THE SCIENCE-FANTASY MEGAPACK

COPYRIGHT INFO

The Science-Fantasy Megapack is copyright © 2013 by Wildside Press LLC. Cover copyright © 2013 Innovari / Fotolia. All rights reserved. For more information, contact the publisher.

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“Introduction,” by Philip Harbottle, is original to this book. Copyright © 2013 by Philip Harbottle. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Call of the Grave,” by Brian Ball, was originally published in Monster Tales: Vampires, Werewolves, and Things, edited by Roger Elwood, Rand McNally, 1973; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #5, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 1973. 2003 by Brian Ball. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Warlord of Kul Satu,” by Brian Ball, was originally published in Nameless Places, edited by Gerald W. Page, Arkham House, 1975; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #6, edited by Philip Harbottle. Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 1975. 2003 by Brian Ball. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Broken Sequence,” by Antonio Bellomi, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by Antonio Bellomi. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Final Contact,” by Sydney J. Bounds, was originally published in Dream #16, 1988; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #3, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 1988, 2003 by Sydney J. Bounds. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Sunskimmer,” by Sydney J. Bounds, was originally published in Dream #16, 1988; and in a revised version in Fantasy Adventures #12, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 1988, 2003 by Sydney J. Bounds. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“A Time for Contact,” by Sydney J. Bounds, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by the Estate of Sydney J. Bounds. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Writer for Hire,” by Sydney J. Bounds writing as David Somers, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #2, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2002. Copyright © 2002 by Sydney J. Bounds. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Tapestry of Time,” by Eric Brown, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #12, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2006. Copyright © 2006 by Eric Brown. Published by arrangement with the author.

“Uncertain World,” by Eric Brown, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by Eric Brown. Published by arrangement with the author.

“I’ll Kiss You Goodnight,” by Frederick H. Christian, was originally published in The Premature Burial and Other Tales of Horror, edited anonymously, Corgi Books, 1966; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #10, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2004. Copyright © 1966. 2004 by Frederick H. Christian. Published by arrangement with the author.

“Prisoner of Time,” by John Russell Fearn, was originally published under the pen name Vargo Statten as The Time Bridge, Scion Books, 1952, and revised by Philip Harbottle in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 1952 by John Russell Fearn; Copyright © 2008 by Philip Harbottle. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The House on the Moors,” by John Glasby, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #12, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2006. Copyright © 2006 by John Glasby. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Martian Enigma,” by John Glasby, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by John Glasby. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Nightfall on Ronan,” by John Glasby writing as A. J. Merak, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #5, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by John Glasby. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Drainpipe,” by Philip E. High, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #4, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Philip E. High. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Gunman,” by Philip E. High, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #9, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2004. Copyright © 2004 by Philip E. High. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Wishing Stone,” by Philip E. High, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #13, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2008. Copyright © 2008 by the Estate of Philip E. High. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Something in the Air,” by Gordon Landsborough, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #4, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by the Estate of Gordon Landsborough. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Dilettantes,” by E. C. Tubb, was originally published under the pen name Alan Innes in Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, April, 1956; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #10, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2004. Copyright © 1956, 2004 by E. C. Tubb. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Emergency Exit,” by E. C. Tubb, was originally published under the pen name George Holt in British Science Fiction Magazine, September, 1954; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #2, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2002. Copyright © 1954, 2004 by E. C. Tubb. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“The Greater Ideal,” by E. C. Tubb, was originally published under the pen name Alan Guthrie in New Worlds Science Fiction, February, 1957; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #4, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 1957, 2003 by E. C. Tubb. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“You Go,” by E. C. Tubb, was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, December, 1956; and reprinted in Fantasy Adventures #12, Wildside Press, 2006. Copyright © 1956, 2006 by E. C. Tubb. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

“Sea Change,” by Peter Oldale, was originally published in Fantasy Adventures #5, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Peter Oldale. Published by arrangement with the author.

“Brides for Mars,” by Eric C. Williams, was originally published Fantasy Adventures #2, edited by Philip Harbottle, Wildside Press, 2004. Copyright © 2004 by Eric C. Williams. Published by arrangement with Cosmos Literary Agency.

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

TYPOS

Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.

—John Betancourt

Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

www.wildsidepress.com

THE MEGAPACK SERIES

MYSTERY

The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

The Charlie Chan Megapack

The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

The Detective Megapack

The Father Brown Megapack

The Girl Detectives Megapack

The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

The First Mystery Megapack

The Penny Parker Megapack

The Pulp Fiction Megapack

The Raffles Megapack

The Victorian Mystery Megapack

The Wilkie Collins Megapack

GENERAL INTEREST

The Adventure Megapack

The Baseball Megapack

The Christmas Megapack

The Second Christmas Megapack

The Classic American Short Stories Megapack

The Classic Humor Megapack

The Military Megapack

SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

The Edward Bellamy Megapack

The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

The Philip K. Dick Megapack

The Randall Garrett Megapack

The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

The Murray Leinster Megapack

The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

The Martian Megapack

The Andre Norton Megapack

The H. Beam Piper Megapack

The Pulp Fiction Megapack

The Mack Reynolds Megapack

The First Science Fiction Megapack

The Second Science Fiction Megapack

The Third Science Fiction Megapack

The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

The Robert Sheckley Megapack

The Steampunk Megapack

The Time Travel Megapack

The Wizard of Oz Megapack

HORROR

The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

The E.F. Benson Megapack

The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

The Ghost Story Megapack

The Second Ghost Story Megapack

The Third Ghost Story Megapack

The Horror Megapack

The M.R. James Megapack

The Macabre Megapack

The Second Macabre Megapack

The Mummy Megapack

The Vampire Megapack

The Werewolf Megapack

WESTERNS

The B.M. Bower Megapack

The Max Brand Megapack

The Buffalo Bill Megapack

The Cowboy Megapack

The Zane Grey Megapack

The Western Megapack

The Second Western Megapack

The Wizard of Oz Megapack

YOUNG ADULT

The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

The G.A. Henty Megapack

The Girl Detectives Megapack

The Penny Parker Megapack

The Pinocchio Megapack

The Rover Boys Megapack

The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

The Tom Swift Megapack

AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

The Edward Bellamy Megapack

The B.M. Bower Megapack

The E.F. Benson Megapack

The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

The Max Brand Megapack

The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

The Wilkie Collins Megapack

The Philip K. Dick Megapack

The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

The Randall Garrett Megapack

The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

The Zane Grey Megapack

The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

The M.R. James Megapack

The Murray Leinster Megapack

The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

The Andre Norton Megapack

The H. Beam Piper Megapack

The Mack Reynolds Megapack

The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

The Saki Megapack

The Robert Sheckley Megapack

OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

The Wildside Book of Fantasy

The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

THE SCIENCE-FANTASY MEGAPACK: 25 CLASSIC TALES FROM FANTASY ADVENTURES, Edited by Philip Harbottle

INTRODUCTION, by Philip Harbottle

When I was given a free hand to create a new paperback fantasy magazine for Wildside Press in 2002, the only restriction I was given was that I had to purchase all its contents myself!

With a free editorial hand, my initial policy was to commission new stories from the older British science fiction authors, whose work I had read and enjoyed over many years. But, unaccountably, all of them had fallen silent in recent years because successive British magazine editors had chosen to ignore their talent. Not one editor had thought to commission new work from them in years!

I was angry that these talented veteran authors—who had helped to pioneer magazine science fiction in Britain—had been denied the opportunity to prove that they still had worthwhile stories to tell, and new things to say. And I also felt that many of their excellent early stories had been too long out of print, and been unjustly forgotten.

I wrote to all of these writers, offering them a firm commission for new work, and at a reasonable rate of pay. Selected reprints could also be used, at half this rate.

Most of the writers I contacted no longer had agents, and I was gratified when they asked me to represent them. As their new agent, I was then able to sell many of their backlist novels to my publisher, Wildside—and to other publishers, too.

And so Fantasy Adventures was launched. Print-on-demand paperbacks were still relatively new in 2002, and there was considerable dealer resistance to carrying them. It soon became evident that circulation would never be great, so budget considerations meant that only one-third of the 60,000 words contents were new stories, but I still managed to obtain some fine material, most notably some brilliant new stories by Sydney J. Bounds, Philip E. High, and E. C. Tubb. Much of each issue was made up with a reprint of one of John Russell Fearn’s better novels from the 1950s, and featuring specially commissioned illustrative covers by famed ex-Scion artist Ron Turner.

My editorial policy throughout consisted of three main strands: to bring to light fine stories that had been accepted for other markets, but for one reason or another had never appeared at the time; to reprise classic stories too long out-of-print; and to actively solicit brand new stories that might otherwise never have been written. This latter strand eventually became the most important.

Gradually, as the series became established, in addition to works by Bounds, Fearn, High, and Tubb, new stories by other veteran UK writers, including Brian Ball, John Glasby, and Tony Glynn, were added, all of whom wrote excellent new stories for Fantasy Adventures. One highlight was the posthumous first publication of “Something in the Air” by Gordon Landsborough, a novelette I had actually commissioned from Gordon for my earlier SF magazine, Vision of Tomorrow, in 1970. It was a beautifully written and subtle satire, its central character being a science fiction editor working for an uncaring publisher (based on Gordon himself and his days at Hamilton’s editing Authentic!) I was also proud to have been favoured with new stories by rising star Eric Brown, and the noted Italian author and editor Antonio Bellomi.

As with most early POD ventures, sales were disappointing—but I was able to resell the Fearn novels appearing in it to UK publishers, which more than recouped my editorial outlay. I had hoped to continue in this vein, soliciting more new stories from Eric Brown and other emerging younger British writers, but it was not to be.

In 2006, first Philip E. High, and then Sydney J. Bounds, died. Both men were born storytellers who loved to write, and although they knew they were dying from cancer, they continued to write for me as long as they were able. Their final stories were truly inspirational, remarkably good, and completely free from any trace of bitterness or self-pity.

After their deaths I decided to discontinue the magazine, and to instead concentrate all my energies on selling their backlists to other publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and throughout Europe. My still living clients continued to write new stories, but—now that their names were known again—I was now able to sell them to wider and better markets, including original story anthologies.

Fantasy Adventures had achieved its objective when I ended it after thirteen issues. Quite a number of its stories have since been anthologized or included in single author collections.

Now my current publisher has suggested that I might edit a generous selection of its best stories for the latest fast-developing new market—that of the e-book. In this way it is hoped that these fine stories and their writers might be brought to the attention to a new generation of readers who are unaware of their existence.

I hope that these new readers might enjoy work by authors who may not be familiar to them—and to want to seek out their many other works which are now available both as paperbacks and e-books!

—Philip Harbottle, 27 August 2013

THE CALL OF THE GRAVE, by Brian Ball

The Celts believe that if you call on a man’s soul long enough, strongly enough, the call will be answered. I am a Celt, a Welshwoman. Part of my difficulty in deciding just what happened at the time of the Bryn Cynon disaster is that I knew no English until I was well into my teens. As a child, I knew nothing of that harsh tongue.

I was eight years old when my father and two older brothers, along with a hundred and seven other men, were caught by the raging explosions in the deep galleries. Coal was won with blood then.

My mother wept at the pithead with the other white-faced women. I suppose I wept too, but I can’t remember too well. I was interested in everything I saw. I watched it all, even when the sturdy rescue teams carne up with a few of the bodies. They did weep. There was no hope for any of the miners.

The minister spoke of souls released from this life’s cares, but we children thought of fire and water, smoke and stunning blast. The shaft was abandoned and sealed up after a week. Nearly a hundred men still lay in the choking darkness, quietly swayed by black waters. The disaster numbed the village. Even though the pithead buildings were no longer in use, the old men and the widows, the grandmothers and sweethearts, still came there. They spoke to their dead menfolk, little everyday Welsh phrases that the dead would know well. They comforted the dead and relieved their own grief. We came too, the children of the village, but we were driven away. My mother was bitterly angry with me when I persisted.

“Your father is dead, and your brothers too! Dead! The minister spoke the words. Don’t disturb them now. Don’t trouble the dead!”

She had never looked so angry.

I learned the reason for that anger from the other children. She did not believe in the old ways. But, child-like, I was fascinated by the idea that you could call on the dead. I suppose I thought of it as a form of macabre telephoning. How I wanted to communicate with my dead father and brothers!

So strong was my morbid wish that I disobeyed my mother. It was of no use hanging about the pithead. My mother would soon hear of it if I began calling down the blocked-up shaft. Instead, I went to one of the many ventilation outlets that dotted the upper reaches of the valley. On the day of the disaster, they had spumed black smoke and red flame for hours.

No one saw me. I would slip away after school before my younger brothers realized I was gone. I talked, often for an hour, of the day’s trivial happenings:

‘Dad!’ I would whisper. ‘Can you hear? I’ve done well at arithmetic today! We had dripping toast for breakfast again, and Gareth has a black eye!’

How simple and innocent it was! I kept up my one-sided conversations for nearly two weeks. I tried to pretend that Dad or David or Rhys answered, but there was nothing but a thin whistling sound from the deep, black hole. I was careful not to get ay dress soiled on the smoke-encrusted brick when I peered down. Nothing! Only the iron ladder and a distant, cold whistling.

One afternoon I arrived later than usual, for I was losing interest in my macabre game. It was to be given fresh interest, for a most unusual thing occurred.

Mr. Jackson, the English under-manager of the colliery, was there” I almost called out to him, but I remembered that he spoke little Welsh. In his bowler hat and dark suit, he was an imposing figure to a young girl. I said nothing.

He peered into the depths. And then he began to speak in his guttural English. Of course, I did not understand him, as I have said, but I was fascinated. Here was another who conversed with the dead! I almost called out, but my shyness stopped me. I was sure he did not wish for company.

To my delight kind Mr. Jackson came the next day. And the next. He would call down lengthy, impassioned messages for up to half-an-hour. I listened, but for several days I could make no sense of his words. I caught one word, then two, with much difficulty. And I knew them! ‘Morgan’ and ‘Lewis’!

Morgan Lewis! Mr. Jackson was trying to call on the soul of one of the young colliers who had died three weeks before! I knew Morgan well.

Poor Mr. Jackson, I thought, poor Mr. Jackson to be so sad now that his friend was dead! I almost called to him that Morgan would hear and come. I had no need.

Mr. Jackson had just finished his conversation when it happened. He turned and I hid. He was grinning. I am sure that he did not see the long thin arms that rested on the brickwork behind him, nor the long emaciated and blackened fingers. I saw them. To this day I swear that I saw them. A child’s vision is more than twice as acute as an adult’s. I did see the arms.

They drew him back. Mr. Jackson’s hat fell off. He made an effort to reach the skeletal arms and hands, but he was already off-balance.

I got up, not afraid since I had been expecting some response. At eight you can forget to fear, so interested are you in your own thoughts. But I saw that Mr. Jackson experienced fear.

He went to join his hundred men. I rushed to pick up his bowler hat. There was no Mr. Jackson to give it to. I looked down. I listened. Nothing.

I almost returned Mr. Jackson’s hat to him, thinking he might need it in the empty darkness, but I was pleased that I carried it with me as I ran back to the village. The sight of the hat convinced my Uncle Thomas that I had not invented the whole episode. My mother said nothing, nor did the neighbors. They all stared at me as if I were some strange new animal. They sent the younger children away, and I began to cry. I thought I would be punished.

“He was calling you say?” my Uncle asked.

“Yes, calling!”

“Calling who?”

“Why, calling the dead soul!”

They began to understand. Uncle Thomas frowned.

“This calling, girl! Mr. Jackson had no relatives in the pit—he had no one to call on!”

I had not mentioned Morgan Lewis. Proudly I said:

“He had! His friend!”

“How do you know, girl? You don’t speak English!”

“I know, Uncle, but I did hear him say the name.”

“What name?”

“Why, Morgan Lewis’s! Very loud! Always Morgan Lewis!”

I was afraid then. I saw the horror in my mother’s eyes. They had not believed my story of the terrible arms and the blackened, emaciated fingers. Not until that moment.

“I knew Morgan Lewis would come.” I babbled on. “Mr. Jackson called him so strongly!”

Uncle Thomas grasped me by the shoulders. Very fiercely he said:

“You saw nothing, girl, nothing!”

Girls obeyed their elders in Wales then.

“Nothing, Uncle,” I repeated.

I learned the rest of the story years later. Mr. Jackson had come to Bryn Cynon with a pretty young wife, and Morgan Lewis of the black eyes and white teeth had a way with the women. Cunning and vindictive, that was Mr. Jackson’s reputation. He had ready access to explosives. How better to conceal a murder than in a massacre?

My Uncle Thomas threw the hat down the ventilation shaft. That was something else I did not learn for many years. I have often thought of that deep hole and the empty whistling sound.

Could Morgan Lewis have survived for three weeks in some safe pocket of the mine, perhaps blinded and terribly wounded, until he heard someone calling his name? Could a dying man have climbed the shaft to listen to the under-manager? Certainly Morgan knew some English. He had learned it from Mrs. Jackson. Had he heard Jackson’s cruel voice?

I thought about Celtic legend too.

Had some awful specter heard the taunts and come to answer on behalf of all those dead Celts?

I don’t know.

I have never called on the dead since. I never will.

THE WARLORD OF KUL SATU, by Brian Ball

Archaeologists can forget that the past is still with us. Its ghosts still linger. We forgot at Kul Satu.

The Warlord had been buried after the manner of the Scythian kings who were also battle-leaders. His horses had been pole-axed and placed around the central circular tomb. Fourteen men and eight women, one of them his queen or chief concubine, had contributed their deaths to his monument. Most had been strangled, a few poisoned. Food and weapons, cauldrons and armor, had been supplied on a lavish scale. The Warlord could ride with a full retinue through the eternal plains.

Al, my fiancé, saw him first.

“This is one big-time operator!” he called.

We were delighted. Finding a Scythian Warlord so far West meant that we knew the extent of the warrior-herdsmen’s penetration of Europe. Did I feel a chill of apprehension when I looked into the juniper coffin? Or was it that a chill wind had sprung up across the Hungarian plain? I remember feeling proud of Al.

It was one of the workmen the Hungarian government had supplied who made me feel a little uneasy.

“Grave-robbers!” he muttered.

The locals had never dared go near the Warlord’s grave. Even after twenty-five centuries, his grim reputation had survived. It was a place of evil spirits, we were assured. The workman made the sign of the cross and edged away. Al was peeved by his remark.

I was a little annoyed too. We had never thought of ourselves as robbers. The Hungarians had been glad to give us permits to excavate the mound at Kul Satu. We were financially independent, we were reputable archaeologists, and they knew we wouldn’t steal the gold and silver from the tomb. How could we be robbers?

I looked at the mummified corpse. The Warlord had been a big man by Scythian standards. He was heavy-boned, and he had been well-fleshed. I could distinguish his features even after the passing of over two thousand years.

“He was some guy!” Al exulted. I thought he looked cruel and I said so.

“You know the Scythians, honey! They ate babies for breakfast!”

Sometimes I wish Al would not make macabre jokes. But he was right about the Scythians. Not that they ate babies, of course. War was their way of life, war and all its grisly rituals. They took their young women into battle with them. The Warlord’s chief woman had gone to her grave with a beautifully-made sword in her hands. Al’s remark troubled me. So did the Warlord’s menacing features. I think it was then that I first sensed the brooding spirit of that barbaric splendidly-costumed and bejeweled warrior-king.

That night I dreamt of the gold-hilted sword, the electrum amulets, the bracelets and the magnificent silver bowls. I awoke shivering, with the pale moonlight dusting the nylon of the tent. I did not want to dream of the Scythians, but sleep took me once more and I saw the horses sweeping over the huge Hungarian steppes as they had done those long centuries ago. The ghosts of the mound at Kul Satu were stirring. I began to understand that the past is still with us.

It was the first time I had felt fear—actual and acute fear—on a dig. I awoke once more, this time hot and sweaty. Some impulse made me put on a gown and walk, through the silent camp towards the mound we had opened up. The plastic sheets covering the tomb flapped in the slight wind. Even though I was filled with an overwhelming sense of dread, I was impelled to look at that cruel long-dead face.

The Warlord’s presence seemed to hover about the night like some unseen but powerful miasma. In the cold moonlight, I felt the anguish of the strangled and the griping terrors of the poisoned. Blood and dread filled the night. I ran, whimpering.

Why I did not go to Al for comfort and reassurance I shall never understand. Perhaps I thought he would consider me foolish. I was. All I can say is that a scientist isn’t supposed to be afraid of his field of research. I was a fool. I told Al nothing.

We worked hard for the next few days photographing, classifying, packing, exploring, cataloging. It should have been pleasant and rewarding work, but I was too tired to share Al’s enthusiasm. Each night I dreamt of the terrible Scythians. There was always violence and, somewhere hovering just outside the edges of the dreams, the grim spirit of the Warlord of Kul Satu. I think more of the work force was affected by that brooding presence, but they were being well paid and said nothing. The workman who had called us robbers occasionally glared at Al or me, but he too kept his opinions to himself. Work was scarce in that part of Hungary.

My dreams were clearer now. The horses were strong, short-necked beasts. It did not seem strange that I should be riding with the men. Armed and armored, we flew over the vast green plain like some storm from the East. And the Warlord was somewhere close, very close.

I was desperately afraid now of the terrible presence. I knew that his ghost was abroad, that our disturbance of his tomb had given some kind of unholy sense of outrage to his terrible spirit. I was too young, too much in love to risk my fiancé’s peace of mind; I think too that I was afraid of his macabre jokes. The thought of Al’s laughter would be too much. What a fool I was!

The fifth night after we had opened the juniper coffin, I saw the Warlord’s face. Flat, Mongol, slant-eyed, ferocious, it was the living counterpart of that withered face in the gold-decked cloak. His eyes were wild, his mouth a bitter line. We wheeled our horses to hear him. Commands flowed.

The reason for our wild, surging charge across the steppes became clear. Softer, richer, more civilized peoples held the Hungarian plains. They had rich soil, cattle, docile children and gold. Land, wealth, cows and slaves were the prize. In that dreadful dream I saw the Warlord look at me with contempt. The insults rang in my ears the whole of the night and the next day.

I trembled as I helped Al with the last of the packing away. As we handled the still-sharp swords and the exquisitely-chased cauldrons I heard the warlord’s taunting voice. How had I offended that terrible man! Why had I to endure his bitter denunciations! How was it that he could reach out across the long centuries and send his terrible spectre into my dreams!

Al noticed my tiredness. I allowed him to send me to bed early when all I wanted was to remain conscious. Would it have changed matters if I had confided in him?

I think not.

The warlord of Kul Satu had eaten into my soul. When I slept, I dreamt, and when I dreamt I was his. I fought sleep, of course, but it came. With it came the thundering charge, the screams of dying men and the wild, exulted bellowing of the Scythians.

The Warlord glared red-eyed at me. He pointed to the gold-hilted sword in my hand, a woman’s weapon, slim and deadly. I was deeply ashamed. No Scythian woman could marry until she had killed a man, I wept. He pointed again, this time to a whimpering peasant who was trying to outrun our superb mounts. The man looked round, too exhausted to scream. He fell at my horse’s feet.

The Warlord bawled a command. I dismounted. The dread, the blood, the fury, filled my whole being. And all the time, the Warlord watched, his flat face alight with malice and triumph. I struck. I turned and saw that the Warlord’s face had withered and dried; but his eyes were filled with grim delight.

That night I slept deeply.

I heard the shouting as if through a fog. Al’s voice was raised, but others were yelling louder. I remembered my dream and shuddered, but I saw the red light of dawn and felt the night’s terror ebbing away. I knew I was free of the Warlord. We were to leave Kul Satu that day. I wondered what the hubbub was about. Pay? Or a new find!

Al called to me. I was to dress at once. Puzzled, but not yet alarmed, I pushed the sheet back. It was then that my eyes fell on the widespread red-rust blotches. I refused to ask myself their cause. I looked at my right hand. Blood had congealed on the hand and wrist. Al called once more, this time sharply.

I washed quickly. Something made me thrust the sheets into a specimen bag.

The workman who had been afraid lay transfixed by the slim, gold-hilted sword. He lay at the feet of the Warlord. My tears and shrieks were acceptable as feminine weakness. I don’t think anyone connected me with the death, not at the time. The police were anxious to keep publicity at a minimal level. Perhaps the man was trying to steal, they suggested. A slip in the dark, an unlucky fall.… I made no comment.

I buried the sheets. Perhaps Al saw me, I don’t know. He made no more jokes. I believe he married a girl from Maine.

What I do know is that the Warlord called more than one to his tomb, for the face of the dead workman was the face of the exhausted peasant. He had reason to fear the grim spirit of the Warlord of Kul Satu.

And so had I.

THE BROKEN SEQUENCE, by Antonio Bellomi

“Thank you for coming.”

Commissioner Kim Sukyung welcomed Uriel Qeta and signaled to the agent on the threshold to let him in. The Chief Commissioner of Luna City Laboratories had a grim face, betraying someone heavily pressured and wrestling with insoluble problems. The so-called oriental deadpan face was absolutely missing.

Uriel Qeta passed through the door of the Astronomy Lab and shook hands with the commissioner. When he had been called half an hour ago on the videophone the commissioner had been very frank with him.

“I urgently need your help,” the Chief Commissioner of the Luna City Police Force had said. Such a statement from him meant that the trouble that had arisen was real trouble.

It was not the first time that Uriel Qeta was asked to give his expert help to Commissioner Sukyung, and each time it had happened it was for a very good reason: it meant the commissioner had no idea whatsoever what to do.

Qeta looked around him curiously. He had expected to see a corpse on the floor, as he had been told, but on the clear glassex floor there was no body, either dead or alive. The commissioner caught his look of surprise and gave a forced smile.

“No, the dead man is not here, but in the adjoining lab, just at the opposite end of this room. I am sure you can help me. I wouldn’t have imposed on you, had it not been so urgent. I must find a solution to this case within three hours at the most.”

“And you need a planetologist?” Qeta looked puzzled. “I’m an expert on planets, not a detective. Are you sure I can help you? It is the first time you’ve called me for a murder case. Previously you called me to help you solve problems which were more on the scientific side than police matters.”

Sukyung guided the scientist to the end of the room and through a door to another room. This was more spacious and from the threshold Qeta could see a large table and rows of shelves overcrowded with jars and tubes.

“I’m afraid there is a dead man to complicate things now, and I thought that your sharp mind could be useful once more,” he replied. “The dead man, or rather the man who was killed, is Professor Helios Olmedo, the director of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Lab. I gather you knew him very well professionally.”

“Oh, yes,” said the planetologist.

“Well, I hope you can find some clue, which has so far evaded us. I confess that I am groping in the dark and time is short, very short indeed.”

Professor Olmedo was lying behind the counter, near the right wall. He was wearing a white coat and the terminal end of a ceramic dart was protruding from his neck. His face was contracted, showing his facial nerves had been subject to sudden paralysis.

“Was he poisoned?” asked Qeta as he saw the dart.

The Commissioner nodded. “Exactly. Do you see this dart? It is the kind of dart that is fired by a compressed air ceramic gun. It is used in the spaceships to sedate violent rioters. The only difference is that we use sleeping darts, while the dart which killed Professor Olmedo obviously contained a lethal toxin.”

Qeta went around the table to have a better look at the dead man. In spite of his hundred and twenty kilos he knelt with great agility, aided by the reduced gravity of the Moon. “Could you establish the time of the death?”

“A couple of hours ago, no more,” Sukyung said. “Time is of essence in this investigation. As you know, in order to move through the many levels of Luna City and open certain doors, you need to employ your own magnetic key, which, according to the security level of the owner, allows entry in certain parts and not in others. But all accesses are registered by the central computer and, at least in theory, we should be able to track every person’s movements rather precisely.”

Qeta finished examining the corpse, then got up. The commissioner was looking at him hopefully. “Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

Sukyung sighed. “Dead wrong. The lab door was opened by the murderer with a false skeleton key.”

“False?”

“As false as it can be. Its code number which was registered by the computer doesn’t match with any of the skeleton keys which are used by the personnel of Luna City.”

“That would suggest a professional agent, wouldn’t it?” asked Qeta, while his eyes searched the room. “A ceramic gun which can foil the metal detectors, a poisoned dart which is not in the trick bag of the lunar police, a false skeleton key.…”

“This is just what we thought,” Sukyung confirmed the hypothesis. “But we have a possible track to follow.”

“Interesting,” commented Qeta. Now he had lifted his eyes and he was examining the ceiling. “And what is this track?”

Sukyung said smugly: “We can reduce the number of the possible murderers to three. Thanks to the use of the magnetic keys we can track the movements of all people rather precisely. Actually there are only three of them who did not leave a traceable path in the last four hours and so we are a hundred percent sure that the murder must be one of them. They are—”

Qeta stopped him with a gesture and pointed instead at the ceiling. There was a tiny electronic eye focused on them at the moment. “That is a security camera, isn’t it? I trust you have already checked the tape?”

If Sukyung thought the question was slightly insulting, he did not show it. “Sure. That was the first thing we did, but the range of the camera doesn’t cover the room completely and the murderer placed himself in a blind spot. From there he fired the gun without being filmed. I have a copy of the tape on one of the lab monitors. Do you want to see it now?”

“Please.” Qeta looked around him. He saw a turned on monitor on the left side of the room and started to walk in this direction. Suddenly he turned as if an idea had occurred to him, and came back to examine the table behind which the professor’s corpse was lying.

“Found something?” Sukyung came alongside him.

Qeta pointed at the table. There were five numbered glass jars lined up on the top and the last one was not erect as the others, but lay on its side. “I think Professor Olmedo was working on these specimens when he was killed. Apparently he was keeping the last jar in his hand and it rolled out the moment he was hit.”

“Right,” stated Sukyung. “You can see the whole scene on the monitor.”

The two men approached the monitor and Sukyung pushed a few buttons. Immediately the screen showed a movie of the laboratory. Professor Olmedo was behind the table and all of a sudden he raised his head with a baffled look in his eyes. A second later his look changed, but Qeta could not understand whether he was actually worried. It was almost sure the killer had just come in. Professor Olmedo might have sensed something was wrong, but either he was not yet sure, or perhaps he did not want to show he had understood what was about to happen.

The professor turned casually and from the shelf behind him he took a few jars and began to display them on the table. He acted as if he was not worried by the presence of the unknown visitor. Had he not understood that the intruder had come to kill him? His gestures were quiet and systematic; he seemed to prepare the jars for some kind of experiment. Nothing in his movements revealed he was afraid of being killed by the visitor.

“A shame there is no sound track,” said Qeta. “If we could hear what they said, it would be easier for us.”

Now the professor had finished arranging the jars on the table.

“Coming up now is the moment when he was shot,” anticipated the commissioner.

A couple of seconds later the face of the professor contracted while a ceramic dart pierced his jugular. The nerves of his face froze instantly and he appeared to gasp for air, then he collapsed on the floor.

“Paralysis with asphyxia,” said Sukyung. “He died almost instantly.”

“Go back a little with the tape,” said Qeta. “I want to see the scene again.”

The commissioner gave him a perplexed look, but he did not say anything and ran the images again. Once more the professor was shown to handle his lunar specimens.

“Ah!” Uriel Qeta exclaimed. “Just as I thought. Did you notice it?

“Notice what?” asked Sukyung. “I see the professor being hit while he is arranging the jars on the table and then collapsing after being paralyzed. Or did I miss anything?”

Qeta looked at him thoughtfully as if he was following a train of thoughts of his own. “If you observe the tape more carefully, you’ll notice the professor was not hit while he was arranging the jars on the table, but after he had already done with it.”

“So what?” Sukyung looked dumbfounded. “During or immediately after, what does it matter? It was the moment he was killed anyway.”

“Look at the tape again,” Qeta prompted the commissioner.

Sukyung sighed, but he ran the tape for the third time, and again there was the professor handling his jars.

“Stop the image here,” Qeta ordered him suddenly. “Don’t you notice anything out of order?”

Sukyung examined the image then he winced and turned to look at Qeta. He looked amazed. “I got it! How could I have missed it?”

Qeta nodded and pointed his finger to the fixed image.

“You see, at this point the professor has finished arranging the five jars on the table, but the last one did not roll out of his hand when he was hit. The fifth jar was purposely placed on its side by him! And then, only then, five or six seconds later, he was hit by the lethal dart.”

There was silence for a while in the room. Then Sukyung said slowly: “The professor understood his visitor had come to kill him and he left a message to us. To write it he used the only objects he had at hand at the moment, the jars with the lunar specimens.”

Qeta turned and went back to the table. “Let’s have a look at these jars. They are the key which might give us the answers we are looking for.”

The jars were the usual jars used to contain the lunar specimens: dust and chips of rocks. Every jar was labeled with a number that identified a file with all the data relating to the specimen in it: place, time, depth, finding team, and other data.

Qeta examined the labels. “The identification numbers are 4, 7, 10, 16 and 28,” he said. “We’ll need to examine the files relating to these specimens. We might find a clue in them, which could lead us to the murderer, but.…” He shook his head, unconvinced. “There is something which is out of place.”

Sukyung nodded. “The fifth jar, the one on his side, isn’t it? Why did he not place it upright as the other ones?”

“That’s the point.” Qeta put his hands on the table. “The lying jar must have a particular meaning, but for the moment it evades me. Nonetheless the professor must have thought it was an important clue, because he placed it differently from the others.”

Sukyung looked at his watch. “We only have two hours and a half yet, Doctor Qeta. Time is running short. We must examine these files.”

Uriel Qeta looked at him. “So you said earlier. Why is the time so urgent?”

“Because the three suspect will get on the ferry to Earth in two and a half hours’ time and once they are out of our jurisdiction it will be much more difficult to get at them, always provided the killer will not disappear altogether. After all, we don’t know why the professor was murdered and since we are ignorant of the motive, we can’t know what the killer will do afterwards.”

“You’re right,” Qeta assented. “But before reading the files about the jars, it might be useful to know something more on the three suspects. Do you have their files here?”

“Follow me.”

The commissioner led Uriel Qeta into the first room and invited him to sit down in front of a desk with three closed folders lying on it. “Here are the files of the suspects. You can read them whilst I give orders to my men.”

As the commissioner went away, Qeta opened the first folder.

Miguel Menem, Ph.D., 35, geologist. Brilliant scientist in an important university of Bogota. Specialist in Martian stones. Unmarried, no problem with the law.

The second folder was the file of Danielle Tietz, Ph.D., 29, biologist, working as a researcher at the Government Center of Exobiology of Dallas, virologist. Unmarried, no problem with the law.

The third folder was that of Roy Mobuto, Ph.D., 32, astronomer, radio-astronomy specialist at the Arecibo Observatory. Married with a fellow astronomer in Arecibo. No problem with the law.

Uriel Qeta sighed. The other data contained in the folders did not look at all promising for his investigation. Perhaps the computer files about the specimens could reveal something helpful. He was more convinced than ever that the key of the puzzle rested in those six jars numbered 4—7—10—16—28.

When the commissioner came back, the two men looked through the files of the specimens in the jars. But they were common specimens of lunar dust and rocks. Their mineral contents differed depending on the different sites where they had been picked up, but did not suggest anything unusual. As for the teams that had picked up the specimens, they were the usual teams that had operated in the past and among their members no one had a name that could be even remotely linked to one of the three suspects.

“Hell, we’re still at the starting point!” snorted Sukyung. “We have only one hour left before the ferry sails off and the murderer gets safely away with it. It’s infuriating!”

“4—7—10—16—28,” whispered Uriel Qeta, his brow deeply furrowed. “I remain absolutely convinced that these numbers hid the name of the killer.”

“Why don’t we try to replace the numbers with letters?” mused the commissioner. He caught a sheet of paper and a pencil and wrote down the alphabet letters and over them wrote the following numbers 1 for “a”, 2 for “b” and so on. The resulting word was “d g j p”. “Dammit, the alphabets letters are only twenty six. Number 28 has no corresponding letter.”

“And ‘dgjp’ doesn’t mean anything,” said Qeta. “The numbers might match some of the atomic numbers of the Mendeleyev’s table, but I can see without writing them down that there is no sense in it.”

Sukyung had a rabid look now on his face. “I can’t let that killer go free!” he exclaimed. “We must catch the bastard!”

“We don’t understand that message,” mused Uriel Qeta, “but it must be clear enough. Professor Olmedo apparently thought we could understand it easily. Five numbered jars, the last of them lying on it side. As if he wanted to signal a truncation…a full stop.…”

He suddenly brightened. “Of course, why didn’t I understand it earlier? The professor was an astronomer…and the lying jar means that these numbers are not only five, but the first five of a broken sequence!” The planetologist was beaming as he looked at the chief of the Lunar Police.

“I’ve got it! These numbers are part of a sequence that is well known to the astronomers. It is the Bode sequence: 4—7—10—16—28 which goes on with numbers 52—100—196—388. The professor has understood he did not have time enough to place all the needed jars on the table, but had he placed only five of them we wouldn’t have suspected they meant to be a sequence. While, placing one of them on its side he could make us understand it was a broken sequence. Yeah, that’s it, these numbers are just the numbers of the Bode Law. It gives us the distance of the planets from the Sun, counting as 10 the distance of the Earth from the Sun.”

Uriel Qeta jumped animatedly to his feet. “Let’s nab our killer before that ferry leaves!”

Commissioner Sukyung got to his feet, still looking perplexed. “Okay, if you feel so sure. But the Bode Law numbers don’t suggest anything to me, and the word Bode is also meaningless. Who are we arresting? The astronomer?”

The planetologist was already through the door. “Don’t think of it—just run! I’ll tell you everything while we get to the ferry. Ah, how brilliant of Professor Olmedo!”

* * * *

“Doctor Tietz?”

The beautiful redhead who was about to go through Gate 3 to the ferry berth for the Earth turned, showing a radiant smile. “Yes?”

Commissioner Sukyung’s voice was quiet but firm. “If you’ll be so kind as to follow me into my office.…”

The look on her face changed slightly, showing surprise and a bit of worry; just the right reaction which everybody would show while being stopped by the police just a few minutes before embarking on a space ferry.

“My ferry is about to take off,” she protested politely, with just a trace of nervousness in her voice.

“Please,” said Sukyung, showing her a side corridor. “There still is half an hour before the airlock closes. I’ll make this quick.”

“If you insist.” The tone of the woman sounded annoyed now. As if she was offended.

When she entered the office of the Lunar Police she remained standing, until invited to sit by a sharp gesture from Sukyung.

Uriel Qeta observed the scene intently from the corner where he was seated. Doctor Tietz did not show any trace of fear. She was self-assured, annoyed as much as might be expected from an innocent person, and no more worried than it was logical to be without arousing suspicion for being too sure of herself.

“May I know why I was compelled to follow you here? I have a ferry to catch.”

“I’m afraid that will not be possible,” Commissioner Sukyung said sharply, opening a folder in front of him. “Doctor Tietz, you have been arrested because you are suspected of killing Professor Olmedo.” He spoke levelly, absolutely certain that he had found the killer.

Her green eyes flashed angrily. “Are you joking? I did not even know Professor Olmedo was dead.”

She was a tough one. A real pro. Her reactions were perfect. Calibrated. Normal.

“You have killed Professor Olmedo,” stated Sukyung. “As soon as the Professor realized he was going to be killed he left us a message. It is no use to try to deny it, you’d only waste your time and ours too.”

Uriel Qeta saw the biologist wince. For the first time he thought he detected a crack in her armor, but it was just for a fleeing moment.

“Nonsense! What would it be, this supposed message of yours? You can’t prove what you are saying.”

Sukyung did not reply. He was actually wondering if the evidence Uriel Qeta had provided him would be enough for the court. He was fully convinced of the meaning of the message but it was always possible a good lawyer could dismantle the accusations. What he still lacked was more direct evidence.

The biologist jumped to her feet. “I’m leaving!” She turned, but Sukyung’s voice stopped her short.

“Don’t try to get out of here. The door is blocked. Please, sit down.”

“But I’ll lose the ferry.…”

“I’m afraid you’ll lose something more than the ferry,” said Sukyung quietly and he began nonchalantly leafing through the folder in from of him.

“If you hope to unnerve me and cause me to confess what I haven’t done, you’re badly mistaken,” said Doctor Tietz. “Your abuse of power will cost you dearly.”

Sukyung didn’t even take the trouble to reply to her.

Uriel Qeta observed them without saying anything. He was amused. He knew why the Commissioner was dilly-dallying. At the moment the Forensic Team was searching the biologist’s luggage looking for some evidence that could nail her for the killing of the professor. Perhaps the actual weapon she had used, even if he doubted a professional killer would keep such an incriminating object. But even professionals make mistakes. Sometimes.

Half an hour passed absolutely silently. Doctor Tietz sat rigidly in her chair, her face looking like a stone mask. And Sukyung kept feigning to read the documents he had in front of him as if he were absolutely detached from everything.

The buzzer at the door sounded and Sukyung pushed a button. An agent of the Scientific Squad came in with a small metal ovoid in his hands.

“We found this, sir. It was well hidden inside a souvenir copy of the Obelisk of the First Moon Landing.”

“A Moon souvenir?” the commissioner said wryly, as he caught the ovoid and showed it to Doctor Tietz.

“Everyone who comes on the Moon buys a copy of this famous monument,” she countered levelly.

Sukyung shook his head. “I meant this ovoid.”

“I have never seen it before now.”

“But it was found in your luggage.”

The biologist shrugged. “Then someone put it there. As you know these souvenirs are hollow inside to make them lighter.”

She was always ready with an answer, Uriel Qeta thought. And her answers were logical. It would prove to be very difficult to trip her up with a verbal skirmish. Sukyung went back to leafing through his papers as she put up the stone face again.

A few minutes later another officer came in. This time it was a lieutenant. He turned to Sukyung.

“We have checked. The ovoid comes from Professor Olmedo’s lab. It is part of the collection of specimens of alien spores that are kept in an armored safe in the Astronomy Lab. An ovoid is missing and his serial number matches the number on the ovoid we found in Doctor Tietz’s luggage.”

“I repeat, I don’t know anything about it,” said the biologist nervously.

Uriel Qeta shuddered. So this was the reason why the professor had been killed. To steal a specimen of some spores found encapsulated in alien meteorites. Those spores had never been brought onto the Earth. Many of them were harmless, but others were potentially fatal. If they were disseminated on the Earth they could spread and multiply quickly and be more lethal than the botulinus itself.

Commissioner Sukyung held up the ovoid carefully and examined it with awe.

“It contains spore HV-35,” added the lieutenant. “It is the most lethal spore ever found in meteorites. In the hands of terrorists it would be a terrifying mass destruction weapon.”

“For which every terrorist group would gladly pay a fortune,” said Sukyung. He looked at the biologist again. “Who are you really, Doctor Tietz? Whom are you working for? How much have you been paid to bring this specimen Earthside?”

“I’m Doctor Danielle Tietz,” the biologist replied mechanically. “I work as a biologist at the Government Center of Exobiology of Dallas.” Her eyes glittered. “I’m not a terrorist, nor do I work for any terrorist group.”

Sukyung put down the ovoid carefully, as if he feared it could break and spread its lethal spores throughout Luna City. “Oh, I’m sure a thorough investigation will be able to find a link between you and some terrorist group. When you know where to look, you always end up finding something.”

“An ovoid found in my baggage which at the moment was not with me doesn’t mean absolutely anything,” countered the biologist contemptuously. “I say it once more, anybody could have planted it.”

“Yes, you already said that,” Commissioner Sukyung said placidly. “It is true one piece of evidence is not enough, but two pieces of evidence can mark the difference between an absolution and a sentence.

“Shall I tell you what happened? You came to the Moon, or rather you plotted so as to be sent to the Moon with the precise goal to steal spore HV-3 from the Planetarian Biology Center. But because of the strict surveillance system you could not get at it. Then you discovered that the Astronomy Lab keeps the same alien specimens as well, even if only few people know that, and you rightly thought that the surveillance was less strict there. We generally don’t link astronomy to lethal substances. I don’t still know whether you stole the ovoid after killing the professor, or if it was before, and you killed Professor Olmedo to prevent him associating your presence with the disappearance of the spores.”

“Nonsense!” said the biologist, and her tone was even more contemptuous. “But you said you had another piece of evidence. What was your…uh…so-called message of Professor Olmedo?”

Sukyung turned his eyes to Uriel Qeta, who had remained silent till that moment. “I think it is the right time to explain to Doctor Tietz how the professor could pin her before dying.”

Uriel Qeta got up and approached the biologist, towering over her. This seemed to impress the biologist because a sudden flash of fear appeared in her eyes. Not because she feared to be physically harmed, but because she had read her fate in the eyes of the planetologist.

“I imagine he has written my name in his blood, as in a bad crime novel,” she said wryly. But the look in her eyes was serious, very serious now.

Qeta shook his head. “No, no blood message. And you know that there was no blood around because you killed the professor with a poisoned dart shot into his jugular. No, no written messages. Only jars.”

This time Danielle Tietz winced visibly and could not hide it.

Qeta smiled. “The jars, yes. Surprised, aren’t you? You did not pay attention to them when the professor laid them on the table.”

“What should I know about jars? I never was in that man’s blasted lab!”

Sukyung cut her short. “Who told you anything about the lab? I didn’t say anything.”

She shrugged. “I took it for granted. You alluded to a table and some jars. It was logical to conclude you were referring to Professor Olmedo’s Lab.”

Uriel Qeta smiled faintly and sat in a chair near to her.

“I concede that, Doctor Tietz. It will not be this false step that entraps you, but Bode’s Law.”

From her look it was apparent that now the biologist did not really understand. “Bode’s Law? What is it?”

The planetologist waved his hand. “Oh, yes, I forgot you are not an astronomer.” He went on talking in his best professional tone:

“Bode’s Law is a sequence of numbers indicating the distance of the planets of this solar system from the Sun. You get it writing the numbers starting from 0 and 3, and doubling them so that you obtain 0—3—6—12—24—48—96 and so on; then you add 4 to every such number. The sequence becomes 4—7—10—28—52, and so on. If you assume as 10 the distance from Earth to the Sun, you get 4 as the distance of Mercury—four tenths of the Sun-Earth distance, that is—7 for Venus, 16 for Mars, 48 for the Asteroid Belt, and so on, all these numbers approximating the real distances rather accurately, at least up to a certain point.”

“And these numbers would indicate my name?” There was incredulity in her voice, true incredulity, not feigned.

Uriel Qeta smiled and shook his head. “Oh, no, the numbers have nothing to do with your name. They just pointed out to us that we should consider the Bode Law and it is just this law that revealed your identity.”

Sukyung was observing the biologist closely and was amused when he saw how confused she was. A confused suspect, who doesn’t know what the prosecutor is aiming at, is always at disadvantage.

Doctor Tietz looked at Uriel Qeta blankly. “It was a fine lecture, Doctor Qeta, but what have I to do with Bode? My name is Tietz, Danielle Tietz.”

Qeta nodded. “Quite so, and this is just the reason why the professor could nail you.” He paused while a triumphant look appeared in his eyes.

“You see, my dear Doctor Tietz, for one of those strange quirks of destiny this Law has become known as the Bode Law, but it was actually found before him by an astronomer named Titius. In fact many people call it the Titius-Bode Law, as it should rightly be.”

“Oh,” the biologist smiled wryly, than shrugged. “Now I see, my name is Tietz, and it sounds suspiciously like Titius. So you want to accuse me just on the ground of a paltry assonance! I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous!”

“Oh, no, the assonance has nothing to do with you.” Uriel Qeta shook his head. “Titius is the Latinized name of the man who found this Law, but the true name of this Prussian astronomer and mathematician, who was born in 1729, was Johan Daniel Tietz. Daniel Tietz, just like you…Danielle Tietz.”

The woman seemed to have suddenly lost her energy.

“A trick of fate, you could say, my dear…even your name is exactly matched. And now, don’t you think it is high time you confessed everything?”

FINAL CONTACT, by Sydney J. Bounds

The wild dog came slipping and sliding across the ice towards him. It showed as no more than a gray shadow in the starlight. A growl from deep in its throat alerted him as its jaws opened like a trap.

Crane stopped, shook the glove from his right hand and raised his rifle. The dog was gaunt from starvation, but it would provide some meat. Saliva moistened his mouth in anticipation.

The dog’s hind paws found a grip on a patch of frozen soil, and it sprang. Crane’s rifle was only a .22 sports model so he forced himself to wait till it was on top of the barrel before pulling the trigger.

It body, hard as rock, hit him and knocked him backwards. His feet went from under him and the dog went over his head. Lying flat on his back on the ice, Crane swiveled around, holding his rifle ready for a second shot. It was unnecessary.

He pulled his gloves back on and scrambled to his feet. Unsheathing his knife, he cut away fur and sliced flesh from the bone. He thrust it into his mouth and gobbled greedily. It was tough and stringy, but the blood was warming and he felt new strength surge through his tired and half-frozen body. He ate till he began to feel sick, and then started to drag the remains of the corpse back towards his cave.

It would taste better cooked, and he could risk a fire inside the cave.

Another day of life, he thought—and saw shadowy figures loom through the starlight. Hunters, tracking the wild dog, had heard his gunshot and found him.…

* * * *

World Television covered the debate. Despite the sensational aspect of the subject—radio astronomers confirmed the discovery of a galactic civilization and the fact that a starship was already on its way to Earth—the debate had so far been routine speculation. What would happen if—?

Until it got down to personalities. Until Martin Baker shouted, “You’re a coward, Crane!” Then viewing figures soared.

Walter Crane, red-faced, stuck to his point. “I care about the survival of our people, and this alien ship poses a threat.”

Baker laughed. “Care for yourself, more likely! I am concerned with the progress and achievement of the human race. Nothing, and no-one, must be allowed to interfere with that.”

Crane watched the physicist as he addressed the Assembly with a bigoted enthusiasm.

“I am asking for a ship to meet our galactic colleagues, to make physical contact as soon as possible. We must not delay, but grasp this opportunity to benefit the whole of humanity. Galactic science could advance our knowledge by a century overnight.”

Baker’s voice and penetrating gaze carried the zeal of a religious fanatic.

Fear crawled along Crane’s spine. He sensed that he’d lost the debate, but still he had to fight back.

“Perhaps I am a coward, as the Honorable Member suggests, if that means I fear the unknown. An alien civilization is an unknown quantity. I worry that his ‘galactic colleagues’ may be intent on conquest. At the very least, they may be so advanced that their culture will overwhelm and replace our own.”

“Ridiculous! A galactic war is out of the question because the supply lines would be far too long. Besides, we have nuclear missiles, laser beams, biological and chemical weapons. There can be no possibility of conquest, none whatever. We need the scientific breakthrough they can provide. The galaxy will open up to us like a flower blossoming.”

As Crane anticipated, the debate went in Baker’s favor. It was a landslide victory—the votes only needed to be counted for the record—and he got the go-ahead to lead a contact mission aboard a military spaceship, the only ship ready to leave almost at once.

After his defeat, Crane left the House and called on his friend Judson to ask for help in stopping Baker.

* * * *

Crane kept moving. He moved carefully because the rope bound around his boots had frayed and the surface was treacherous. He moved slowly to avoid sweating; water turning to ice on his body was always a major hazard.

For the first few minutes he traveled in an arc leading away from the cave, afraid of leading the hunters to his hideaway. Living on an island limited his options.

He dare not cross the ice-bridge to the mainland where groups of survivors fought bitterly over anything edible. The ocean was far too dangerous to risk. The boundary where ice met the as yet unfrozen deep could give way without warning, as he had discovered when he tried fishing. He could hear the dull growling of new ice grinding against the old.

His breath was a cloud of vapor in the gloom. He turned and glimpsed the dim figures of the hunters. He removed his glove and fired a warning shot in their direction, then headed for his cave. Inside, he could light a fire and eat to get his strength back. If they rushed him, he could pick them off by firelight.

He hoped they’d give up and leave. He had seen they were only armed with spears, but he didn’t really believe that would stop them. They were black, and blamed the whites for the unnatural dark and cold—and he represented food.

He dragged the corpse of the dog by the hind-leg and carried the rifle in his free hand. In a land of permanent winter he had only the stars to guide him.

Wrapped in a fur coat that had once belonged to a rich woman, Crane headed directly for his hideout. The shadowy figures of the hunters hung back at a respectful distance, but they still followed him.…

* * * *

Howard Judson was an old friend from college days. Now he held a high-ranking position in the space arm of the military.

Crane sat in a deep armchair in a room lined with bookcases. Evening sunlight streamed through the window and tinted the curtains with a warm orange glow. He sipped an expensive brandy.

Judson, broad of beam and craggy with it, relaxed with a cigar.

“Of course I agree with you, Walter. Aliens can’t be trusted, ever. We know nothing of their weapons or their motivation. Baker is a fool. I want this contact stopped just as much as you.”

He tapped ash from his cigar into a chunky piece of pottery.

“We should put our armed forces on red alert and be prepared for anything. You and I, Walter, are on the same side—but how far are you prepared to go?”

“As far as necessary.”

Hudson made a thin smile and asked quietly, “As far as murder?”

For a moment, Crane recoiled. His friendship with Judson had suffered many strained moments in its time. Outsiders considered it a strange friendship because he was a pacifist and Judson a career soldier.

“How would killing Baker stop the contact?” he asked. “Someone else would go.”

“Not Baker alone. A nuclear device aboard the ship, timed to go off in space.”

“But the crew—”

“The crew would die.”

Crane struggled briefly against the idea, but his ideals lost to his fear of an alien threat.

He said, sanctimoniously, “The few must be sacrificed to save the many.”

Judson crushed out his cigar with every sign of satisfaction. “Good! I would be too obvious—but you, a V.I.P., could get away with it. It’s a simple job to set the timer on a nuclear device and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“But smuggling the thing aboard—”

“You forget, Walter, the only ship available at short notice is a military ship. Naturally it carries nuclear weapons. I’ll see you get five minutes alone. But you must apply for permission to inspect the ship before blast-off.”

“I’ll do it,” Crane said impulsively.

* * * *

Crane felt his bones ache; he was colder than he’d ever been in his life, and afraid. The black hunters paced along behind him, just out of gunshot range—but they stayed there, waiting their chance. One mistake on his part could prove fatal.

Traveling by starlight strained his eyes. He had to avoid obstacles, decide whether a darker shadow hid some new danger or not. Only faint outlines showed in a world without color.

The frayed rope around his left boot snapped and the smooth sols slipped and skidded. He dropped both the dog and his rifle in an attempt to break his fall. His leg twisted beneath him.

When he tried to rise, pain whiplashed up his leg. He’d landed heavily and turned his ankle. Sprained it? Broken it? Sweat froze on his face as he tried to stand.

The hunters closed rapidly. A thrown spear tugged at his fur. He fumbled off a glove, reached for his rifle and fired once, then a second time. He hadn’t many bullets loft, but they weren’t to know that. They retreated.

Crane ignored the pain in his leg and tried to judge how close he was to the cave. Not far now. He could crawl. He would have to crawl. He gathered up the spear; one less weapon for the enemy. He didn’t want to leave the dog’s carcass, but it might give him the extra time he needed to reach safety.

He began crawling on hands and knees, his injured leg dragging behind him, the rifle in one hand and the spear in the other. After a few minutes, he paused to look back.

The hunters had pounced on the frozen body of the dog, tearing its flesh with their teeth. He crawled on.

They finished the dog and moved silently after him.…

* * * *

Walter Crane sat alone in his apartment, nursing a bottle and watching the television. The big satellite telescope held the Earth ship firmly in focus, following its path through space.

Crane waited numbly for news. The ship did not explode but traveled on to meet the alien ship. He drank steadily, despairing. What had he done wrong?

He was sure he’d set the timing device as Judson had instructed. Sure! His application had been granted, and certainly Judson must have had a hand in that. It had been simple, as his friend chatted with the ship’s officers, to excuse himself to go to the head.

But—now—Martin Baker was on the point of contacting the aliens, a contact that could prove to be the end of human civilization.

Live pictures were beamed down from the satellite and World Television carried a commentary as the two ships closed the gap between them.

“A momentous meeting,” the announcer said. “They are matching velocity ready for an exchange of—”

The searing flash of a nuclear explosion filled the screen. Crane was temporarily blinded. When he could see again, there was only scattered debris. Both Earth’s military spaceship and the alien had been vaporized.

The commentator chattered breathlessly before turning to one of the experts for guidance.

“Vice-Admiral Judson, what do you imagine has happened?”

Judson’s face filled the screen as he leaned forward in his chair.

“I’m inclined to say the aliens made a mistake. Obviously they attempted to destroy our ship, but something went wrong. This should be a warning to all of us. We must arm and prepare for war.”

Crane switched off. Judson had double-crossed him. After he’d left the ship, Judson had reset the timer to detonate much later. And he would get the blame.

Crane sat motionless, in shock. He told himself that his objective had been attained; there could be no contact now with the aliens. He felt relief, then guilt at the death of the crew. And, finally, sadness at a lifetime’s friendship ending in betrayal.

Eventually, his survival instinct asserted itself. There was bound to be an enquiry, and Judson had covered himself. He packed hastily and left by the first aircraft traveling south. He ended up on a tropical island billed as a paradise.

* * * *

It was no longer a paradise.

When Crane reached the cave and crawled inside, his face was a mask of ice. Already he regretted leaving the dog as his belly rumbled. He fumbled with gloves and matches and numb fingers. His teeth rattled in his head, but he got a fire going with the sticks laboriously gathered and hoarded.

Outside, gray shadows moved towards the entrance. They squatted a short way off, waiting. Crane loosed off a single shot to warn then to keep their distance.

Smoke filled the cave and made his eyes water. As warmth seeped through his body, he tried to get his boot off. Pain shot up his leg. Gently now! He knew that if he fainted, he’d never wake again.

He realized that his foot was too swollen to have any chance of getting the boot off. He would have to cut it free. He hesitated; boots were essential. But he had to know the worst.

With the warmth of the fire came the smell from his fur and wool. He got out his knife and carefully sliced away the leather till he could ease it away from his woolen sock. And saw bone jutting through dirty flesh and a clot of frozen blood.

He cried, knowing this was the end. He was going to die in this cave.

He built up the fire with his remaining sticks, and reached for paper and pencil. He began to write an account of what had happened. Somebody—a man?—might find it one day and be warned.…

* * * *

“Life on an island a few degrees north of the equator is pleasantly relaxing. Worries vanish. There is no pressure. The heat prevents any but the most casual activity. For much of the time I lazed in the shade and drank lime and iced water. I had enough money for the simple life, and no one bothered me. Possibly those in authority agreed with my action and turned a blind eye.

“I swam in the sea, ate and drank, sometimes took a leisurely stroll, and slept. I realized I was drifting, but it didn’t bother me. I suppose I had just given up.

“It was almost twelve months before the galactics’ second ship was detected. I followed the news on TV, but somehow it didn’t affect me the way the news of the first one had. I was that far gone. I assumed we would claim it was an accident and talk reparations.

“We waited for radio contact but this ship made no attempt to communicate, and ignored our broadcasts. Experts talked knowledgeably about robot probes. Then it turned away from its Earth trajectory and headed directly towards the sun. There were brief hours of panic while engineers spoke of systems failure. The alien fired one missile into the sun and headed back the way it had come.

“And the sun went out.

“There were riots in the cities. New religions sprang up, and governments collapsed. Human activity became meaningless.

“Earth was dark now the moon had no light to reflect. It grew cold. Snow fell and the glaciers marched south. Nuclear power stations were buried beneath the ice and human civilization was overwhelmed. Millions froze to death. Thousands tried to reach the equatorial regions. Wars flared as the inhabitants repelled them.

“‘London under twenty feet of ice’, the last commentator announced before the power failed.

“My tropical paradise became dark and cold, and survival was all that mattered. I was lucky to be on an island and away from the worst of the gangs that fought each other. I robbed a store to get a rifle and ammunition, climbing boots and matches. My fur coat came from the corpse of a wealthy visitor.

“I found a cave along the coast and hid out, eating birds and rats, even insects—though they gave me stomach pains. I survived by hunting. Dog, I found, was the best eating.…”

* * * *

The fire was dying as the last of the wood burned away. Crane’s chilblains itched and the patch of frostbite on his face numbed the chill as he sucked a piece of ice. He had no food. His ankle stopped hurting as he gradually froze.

The hunters moved in, and Crane fired one last bullet.

* * * *

The hunters spotted a dull glimmer among the embers in the cave and fanned it to life. They fed the pages of writing to the flames as the fire blazed up. Then they collected food for cooking.

SUNSKIMMER, by Sydney J. Bounds

“It has been confirmed that a swarm of meteors is orbiting the sun and approaching Mercury. So the question now is, will the powers-that-be cancel this year’s race?”

The voice coming from the widescreen was warm, thrilling and female. The buzz of chatter in the skimmers’ changing room faded to near silence.

They stared at the image of Kate Pilgrim, a smartly dressed newscaster of mature years; behind her over-excited groupies screamed the names of their favorite skimmer.

Duke Halliday viewed Kate with approval, even though her words disturbed him. He imagined the length of the legs under that ankle-touching skirt and sighed.

“You hear that, Duke?” Bull Travers, one of the younger sunskimmers, used a tone of voice that suggested a challenge to their leader. “What d’you propose to do about it?”

Duke’s attention remained with the woman onscreen. “I propose to wait for an official announcement. She’s a media person and exaggerates.”

Bull noticed his concentration on the newscaster and made a shrewd guess.

He expressed his disgust. “She’s old—that’s obscene!”

“Yeah, too old,” Gunner said, leering. “You know the one I fancy? That one.” He pointed to a groupie in a minidress.

“I go for the topless one next to her,” Big Red chimed in.

Each skimmer was a hero to his fans; each could have his pick of the groupies. The screen flashed up the betting odds and Duke saw he was still favorite, but some of the young ones were creeping up.

He was scrambling into a bright red suit, new for the occasion, when Bull put it bluntly.

“Maybe you should retire? If you’re chasing mutton when lamb’s available, you’re getting past it. Time to move over and make room for fresh blood.”

Duke glanced sideways at him. Like you, he thought, and smiled. Skimmers were bald, but Bull was trying to grow a moustache; it took a lot of time to cultivate and he looked ridiculous.

Duke nodded acknowledgement of the challenge. “Let’s see how you finish, shall we?”

He continued suiting up, outwardly calm. A lot was riding on this race, and he’d already made his decision. A sunskimmer didn’t last forever.

And Kate was from Earth with fascinatingly long legs and on her way up through the hierarchy of Three Planets Video.

No official announcement of a postponement came: Duke checked the skimmers were suited and took his place at their head for the parade. They left the changing room, where mirrors were banned, carrying their helmets; it was cruelly obvious they had been adapted for their off-planet job.

They passed through the hall of mirrors; the glass was slightly convex and their reflections, bolstered by padded suits, suggested powerful bodies. Here they could strut and swagger and indulge in as rich a fantasy life as any macho male. Here they could forget they were adapted.

Leading the parade, Duke marched through a tunnel into the public arena to a roar of approval from the betting crowd and wild screams from the groupies. TV cameras pointed system-wide eyes.

They circled once to cheers and filed out through another tunnel where they paused to fit their helmets. Beyond was the hangar where their ships, each with the pilot’s individual color, waited like a row of ceramic eggs. Big, fat, swollen eggs.

Duke spoke to his personal mechanic: “Any problems?”

“Every little thing’s fine, Duke.”

Jockey-sized and lightweight, even an adapted man found the cockpit a tight fit in his bulky suit. The seat was contoured to fit and a visiting VIP had once joked. “They’ll need a shoehorn to get you in.” Only it wasn’t a joke.

Once the door slid shut he was locked away from the rest of the world. The egg was wheeled to an elevator and the slow climb to the surface of Mercury began. Duke watched for leaks; none. He adjusted the screen to cut down the sun’s glare…and then he was out on the surface and being loaded onto the catapult for launching.

He waited, mentally preparing himself; try to relax but stay alert. A smooth voice said, “Five seconds and counting: one, two, three, four.…”

Gees squashed him into his seat. Then he was high in a sky filled with a blinding glare and orbiting. The screen showed a fissured and cratered surface below, baked to bare rock and dust.

He had no harvester to pick up this trip; speed was everything.

Other eggs came up to join him in orbit; bright blue, yellow, green, purple, up from the rift where humans existed in sealed chambers; only skimmers flew nearer the sun.

He watched his instruments. There was a satisfactory intake from the sun’s outpouring, fuel aboard and being compressed. Still no warning from officialdom so the race was on.

He psyched himself up to win. This was the big one he was gambling on; he had to be first back or he had no future. Bull was right; he was getting old, and had a lot of competition for his Number One slot, young idiots who would take any risk. Well, he had the advantage of experience.

Suddenly, against the blinding brilliance of the sun, a dark cloud blossomed: the starting signal. Duke engaged smoothly and jetted off for the race around the sun.

He jockeyed for position, watching instruments, studying his darkened screen, keeping an eye on the other ships. Speed built up as the ship scooped in more fuel and headed for the sun. A first-timer set the pace and Duke fell in behind him, using his egg as a shield against heat and radiation as yellowish-orange light filled the screen.

The sun’s gravity drew him on, faster and faster, and it was only his jet fuel that enabled him to guide his ship into the orbit he wanted. His onboard computer calculated the time he could spend in the corona with the temperature steadily rising.

He was losing body water, his throat drying out. The outer ceramic shell burnt away, offering up the next layer. The screen dimmed again as the glare increased; he was aiming directly at a huge ball of burning gases, gases under great pressure, with a nuclear heart.

The speed was exhilarating. Normally, while working, he’d have a harvester in tow, a bulky container collecting rare gases as he skimmed the sun’s surface. A repetitious job, boring. The annual race had started unofficially, then had caught on with the gambling crowd and been promoted to the status of big business.

His screen showed a magnetic storm raging below him with flares reaching high. He swerved aside to head for the nearest dark spot, intending to dive for the chromo-sphere where the temperature was lower. His refrigerator had reached its limit.

Then Bull cut in front of him. It was a deliberate tactic. By directing the exhaust from his ship, the younger skimmer intended to confuse Duke’s instruments; it might have worked with a less experienced pilot.

“Hell and damnation!”

Duke struggled to keep his fury under control. It was a dangerous tactic, one that put him at risk, but if Bull intended to pull out all stops that was something two could do.

He dived, picking up energy and speed, and came up directly in front of Bull’s egg to give him a dose of his own maneuver. He was feeling bitter about the attack and stayed in front a fraction longer than necessary to make sure Bull had no chance to beat him. He had to win and was determined to make sure he did.

Blinded, Bull tried to break away. His ship jumped erratically and Duke imagined his panic; his challenger veered out of control and disappeared from the screen.

Duke suppressed a twinge of guilt: Bull had sure as hell asked for it. His jaw set hard and he sucked on the glucose tube.

He put his nose down again, listening to the howl of the jet. The screen showed only flames and the intense white spots he had to avoid.

Now he was betting his life, for the deeper he went the greater the pressure on his ship’s hull; if that cracked, he had no chance. Another layer of ceramic burned away. The heat in the cockpit rose. He knew he was getting too much radiation when his skin began to itch, but he held steady to his master plan: he was gambling on a gravity slingshot to get him home first.

He concentrated on his instruments, guiding the ship into the orbit he needed. Vibration threatened to shake his seat loose. The heat increased and his pressure gauge showed he was past the safety mark and into the red. He waited, watching. Praying…and then shut off his jet.

Gravity flung him out of the sun’s atmosphere at high speed…much too high. Unless he shed the excess he would travel far beyond Mercury.

He flipped the egg end over end and used his jet as a brake. Still too fast to make a landing, but he had the right trajectory. He reprogrammed his computer for one orbit of the planet, calculating he could use that time to continue braking.

He was losing speed, cooling gradually to something more bearable, but his skin itched like fury. Far too much radiation. The egg was dropping at the end of its orbit; lower and lower, coming in to land, and he was still ahead of the pack!

He began to relax, and settled into his final glide path for touchdown.

When he grounded, carving a new furrow and turning rock to dust, suited mechanics surrounded him and maneuvered his egg into the elevator. There was no cheering from this crew; their job was hard work, dealing with one ship after another as each landed.

Duke tried to shrug off the effect of high gees on the way down in the elevator. He was both sweating and dried out, shaking from reaction. The last time, he told himself; he’d finished with tempting death.

The cage reached the bottom of the shaft. Living quarters extended through side tunnels in the rock, each with its own airlock. TV cameras watched as the egg was eased into a decon and sluiced down.

Now came the part he didn’t like, the part all skimmers hated. Duke was hauled out and pushed through his own personal decon, where spy-eyes did not reach; a hero should keep his secrets.

He was peeled from his suit, to reveal red-raw tenderized flesh and sluiced down, sprayed with soothing and scented ointments. A medic squirted drops into his eyes. He suffered a blood change and a marrow transplant. This was routine for an adapted man.

And the last time, he thought gratefully.

Dressed by skilled hands and helped along a short tunnel to the arena and the victor’s podium, weak and shaky, he was propped up before the crowd.

“The winner…Duke Halliday, in record time!”

The applause was muted at first, and he heard murmurs behind him. “Bull didn’t make it back…he may have hit a big meteor…someone said he deflected it.”

A chant began, “Duke, Duke!” Once started, the sound swelled to fill the arena and he knew it was going to be all right. Bull was forgotten.

Groupies screamed approval, trying for his attention; he could have his choice of any of them, but his gaze sought out Kate talking excitedly into a microphone to millions of viewers all over the solar system, though it would be hours or days before her voice and image reached some isolated colonies.

As she swayed on long legs, he raised his arm and pointed. “Kate Pilgrim.”

Stunned disbelief almost silenced the crowd. No skimmer chose any girl other than a groupie, and the younger the better. It had to be a joke; a few people laughed nervously. Some groupies started to boo.

TV eyes closed in on Kate, frozen in surprise. This was an offer she’d not anticipated and she struggled with the idea. An adapted man? How would Three Planets Video react to their star newscaster behaving like a groupie? Would she have a job anymore? She shrugged, and accepted the experience of a lifetime with a smile. The arena rocked to wild cheers.

The crowd stared at Duke as he exited the arena with Kate on their way to the victor’s bedchamber. She had to support him, and his quiet voice was for her ears alone.

“I have prize money to come, and my winnings from betting on myself. “I’ll retire rich, Kate.”

She glanced sideways at him. “You’re thinking of more than a victory roll?”

“I’m keen to see something of the solar system, Kate. And off-Mercury, an adapted man has problems.”

She thought it through, a woman used to taking quick decisions, and nodded. “I believe I can con Three Pee Vee into letting me have a ship of my own, and hire you as my personal pilot. We’ll make a good team. You’re on!”

They disappeared from public view through a door where cameras were not allowed.

She undressed briskly, folding her clothes, while he marveled at the length of an Earth woman. He knew a moment of embarrassment, and then a siren screamed and the room shuddered. A few fittings toppled to the floor. A crack appeared in the ceiling and dust fell.

Alarmed, Kate started towards him. “What—?”

Duke froze. It was not so easy to forget Bull Travers now, and his voice developed a sudden tremor.

“Meteor strike!”

A TIME FOR CONTACT, by Sydney J. Bounds

Maurey said, “What in hell is it?”

Johns stared in fascination as Maurey piloted their ship in close to the strange object. “Metallic?” he suggested doubtfully.

Maurey watched distance and worried. “Could it be anti-matter?”

“Unlikely.” Kennedy, a plump owl of a physicist, looked up from his instruments. “I’d say it has been in the Belt a few centuries. Look at the surface, scored and pitted—plenty of meteoric dust has hit in that time. No, it’s not anti-matter, whatever it is.”

“It hardly reflects at all,” Johns said. “If it hadn’t been for Ken’s instruments, we’d never have found it.”

The prospecting ship, Hunter, out from Mars colony, was searching for minerals. But this trip, in addition to the normal crew of pilot and geologist, it carried an image converter.

Maurey checked his orbit against that of the object, watched his radar; in the Belt, there were altogether too many pieces of debris drifting around. It was an unhealthy spot.

Hunter edged nearer to the object; almost spherical, larger than the ship, bristling with bumps like inverted craters. Asteroids of this size are, without exception, highly irregular in shape. It was very odd.

“A probe?” Kennedy said thoughtfully.

“Too old—”

“I didn’t mean one of ours.”

Maurey snorted disbelief as he burned fuel to circle the object; and saw what might be a cluster of exhaust vents.

Kennedy sucked in air. “An automated probe from another star system. It has to be. Intelligence!”

Maurey allowed Hunter to drift until the two hulls touched; he cut his engine and the ships stayed together.

Johns helped Kennedy encase his oval form in a spacesuit. “There has to be a way into that thing, and I’m going to find it.”

He went out through the lock and Maurey and Johns watched as he clambered from bump to bump over the alien hull. Long minutes passed before the radio exclaimed: “Got it!” They saw a dark opening into which Kennedy vanished.

Maurey said, uneasy: “We shouldn’t have let him go alone. There’s no telling what might be inside.”

“Nothing living, that’s a safe bet.”

Maurey spoke into his Mike: “Are you receiving me, Ken?”

The radio remained silent. “Their hull cuts off transmission,” Maurey said, considering. “Suit up, Johns, and be ready to go in after him.”

They waited, tension mounting. The geologist, stringy and experienced, slid easily into his seat. Then Kennedy appeared at the open hatch, waving. Excitement lifted his voice.

“It is a probe, and fully automated—no indication that anyone was ever aboard. But there’s something queer, come and see for yourselves. This could be the big one we need.”

Johns said, “I’ll be right with you,” and hurried through the lock.

Maurey’s mouth twisted wryly. Trust Johns and Kennedy to put the colony first; if it was good for Mars, they wanted it. He didn’t fit the pattern and it had taken him a long time to realize it; but now he wanted out. And it would be nice to go back with the big haul.

He suited up and cycled the lock, moved cautiously over the bumpy surface of the alien probe to the hatchway. Hunter was safe enough; she’d continue in her present orbit indefinitely.

Space was a black ocean to all his horizons, the stars unwinking colored lights. Looking alone the plane of the Belt, stars went out as otherwise invisible asteroids cut across them.

The light from Maurey’s helmet showed a narrow passage beyond the hatch; no airlock. The passage swelled out in a compartment filled with hardware. He recognized a computer, a communications system; other equipment was totally without meaning for him. So it was extraterrestrial, and a real find if he could make anything of it.

His first thought was for the drive, but that, apparently, was sealed away behind a metal bulkhead. He located Johns and Kennedy in a central compartment, staring through an open doorway into a small chamber; the chamber was lined with crystal and numberless facets glowed softly in the light from their headlamps. In the heart of the crystal was a black core; a dense blackness that might have been space itself. A total void.

“What d’you think. Maurey?” Johns asked. “This crystal is unlike anything I’ve met. Watch.” He extended his arm till his hand entered the black area. The crystal glow brightened and set up a vibration that issued through their suits.

Kennedy looked up from his inspection of an electronic grid seemingly embedded in the outer surface of the crystal frame.

“Solid state stuff, this—” He peered thoughtfully into the core. “Something is meant to pass through, that’s obvious. Know what I think? They have matter transmission.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that they send their probe-carrier the long way. A transmitter has to have a receiver, after all. When the probe signals as suitable world, they come through. Instantly.”

“And it got stuck in the Belt—far from suitable, I’d say.”

“That depends on the aliens. Maybe they did.…”

Maurey’s scalp lifted. He felt as if unseen eyes viewed him. He turned away and searched the probe thoroughly, and nowhere did he find an indication that living beings had ever inhabited it.

He rejoined the others as Johns was saying: “So maybe they didn’t come through at all.”

Maurey said, “There’s only one way to find out.”

“If you mean what I think you mean, there’s no hurry. It’s been here a long while. And we’ve got to report this.”

Yeah, Maurey thought cynically, get our names at the top of the role of fame. Stake our claim.

They returned to Hunter and stripped suits. Maurey set about preparing a meal while Kennedy juggled wavelengths, calling Mars. It was lucky they had the physicist this trip; he had a contact laid on for his research.

“Hunter to Mars colony. We have discovered an alien probe. Automatic, no clue to the makers. Probably been in the belt for centuries. It looks as though it might have a matter transmitter built into it and, if so, there’s a lot of technology here for the taking.”

Mars came back, excited. “Keep this quiet. Stay off the air. Can you bring your find down to the surface?”

Kennedy turned from the mike. “How about that, Maurey?”

Maurey pondered as he adjusted the infrared grill. There were problems; the probe was larger than Hunter, but they had grappling tackle to deal with asteroids. “Yeah, I can bring it down.”

Kennedy relayed his decision and Mars returned with enthusiasm. “Fine. Do that then. We’ll—”

A new voice roared into the circuit, powerful, overriding their contact. “This is Earth Authority monitoring. We hear you. Mars colony, you have no jurisdiction in this matter. Hunter, here are your orders: you will leave the probe exactly where it is. Do not interfere with anything aboard—we’ll send experts to investigate. Transmit coordinates for locating it. Bear in mind that the probe may be booby-trapped—”

Maurey felt cold sweat trickle under his armpits…they had gone over the alien craft without once thinking of that possibility.

Earth Authority continued: “Do you read us, Hunter? Transmit coordinates now.”

Kennedy switched off, said savagely: “If these bastards get it, we’re no better off.”

Maurey almost laughed. Johns and Kennedy, like the majority of colonists on mars, wanted a complete break with Earth. They wanted to be self-supporting and run their own lives. They badly needed the advanced technology the probe represented.

Johns sighed. “We can’t take it down now—it would be too easy to find. But here, one of a thousand asteroids, its exact position unknown, we buy time.”

Maurey handed round toasted sandwiches, plastic wrapped. “We’ve still got to eat,” he said, and added casually: “We ought to go through, make contact first.”

Johns started. “You figure it’s safe to operate?”

Kennedy said, “Either it’s safe, or it’s not. I like it.”

“Another world. Instant transportation to all kinds of minerals. We’ll break Earth’s monopoly with one blow.”

Both Johns and Kennedy looked pleased with the idea.

And if its booby-trapped, Maurey thought, so what? A spacer risked his life every time he blasted off. For the jackpot, all it took was one more risk.

“You’re ruled out,” Kennedy told him. “We can’t get down without a pilot. Johns and I will toss for it—whoever wins goes straight through. And back, we hope.”

“Not so fast,” Maurey said, “you’re both forgetting something.”

His imagination raced. First contact with intelligent aliens. What was that worth in terms of fame and fortune? Every newscast in the system would want the story, his story. He could write his own contract on that one. His own ship…he knew he’d never retire.

“I’m captain of Hunter, remember? And I say sleep on it, finish your meal, and rest. You can explore when you’re fresh.”

Johns hesitated, reluctant. “That makes sense, I suppose.”

Kennedy nodded agreement.

Maurey relaxed, dreaming of the big time. What would they be like, the aliens? Was communication possible? What sort of cities, society, technology?

He waited for Kennedy and Johns to sleep. It seemed a long wait. Finally, satisfied that both were sound asleep in their cocoons, he left his seat, suited up and passed through the lock.

He crawled over the rough surface of the alien probe, alone, damping his excitement. At the hatchway, he looked back at Hunter silhouetted against a familiar star field, wondering if he’d see either again. Inside, he went directly to the central compartment, opened the door and looked into the black heart of the crystal room.

He reached out a hand and touched nothing; the crystal glowed and vibrated. Holding his breath, he stepped forward into solid blackness; the hum of vibration went up and up…and he stepped through into a second chamber, a duplicate of the one he’d just left. The door was shut. He tried it and it refused to open.

He got his shoulder to it and leaned with his full weight. It shifted slightly, a crack appeared at the edge, faint light beyond. He heaved again, and again, and the door gave enough for him to squeeze through.

He saw now it was a weight of fine dust that had prevented the door opening easily. A dusty landscape stretched before him, a flat plain. He took a few steps and looked up; the pattern of stars was different—he had crossed to another system.

Maurey stared about him.

An empty landscape, no wind stirred the bleak and desolate plain of dust. He saw the crumbling ruins of a fallen monolith. Silence. A wasting desert as far as he could see, all under a dull red sun.

And he sensed the chance of contact had long passed. The probe had taken so many millions of years to reach the solar system that its makers were now extinct.

WRITER FOR HIRE, by Sydney J. Bounds Writing as David Somers

Jerome Gentry stepped briskly out from Uxford station, briefcase under arm, and looked about him. It was his first visit; but publishing houses tended to push farther and farther out from city center. Yet the House of Horror had always been here; originally a small printing shop, now grown to a concrete-and-glass tower dominating the suburban sprawl all around it.

He glanced at the high clock—ten minutes to his appointment—and crossed the road between traffic streams, shuddering, he blocked his mind to that thought. He was no longer a fiction writer creating fantasy, but a journalist taking down fact. Horror after horror was recounted until his writing hand numbed and his brain refused to accept a neat compact man sporting rimless spectacles. He mounted black stone steps and pushed in through swing doors, their glass engraved with a pair of griffin, rampant. Inside, the hall was cool with air-conditioning, the floor tessellated in some fantastic decor. Contemporary, no doubt. He marched straight to the row of lifts, studied names, selected his floor and pressed a button.

He rose swiftly to his first meeting with the managing editor, of the House of Horror. A miniskirted secretary met and ushered him into a carpeted office.

Nicholson, bony, with a brooding cast to his olive-skinned face, sat behind an outsized desk flanked by racks of the books he produced: Nightmare, Creeps, Tales of Terror, each glossed with a sexy cover. They were notorious in the trade, but big sellers. The public lapped them up and Gentry had heard they paid above average for material.

Nicholson, appearing harassed, jumped up to offer a skeletal handshake and a chair. “Glad you’re here, Gentry. I’ve interviewed a number of writers but, judging by your letter, you’re the man for us.”

Gentry up zipped his briefcase and pulled out tear sheets and a couple of photocopies. “The genre has always interested me,” he began—but Nicholson waved him down with scarcely a glance at his samples.

“We’re in a jam and need a writer badly. Our last…well, he’s not available any more. I’m under pressure to produce and the important thing is that you can turn out work fast. I’ll explain our method of working. You don’t need to think up plots. We’ll supply outlines—your job is to put flesh on the bones. Get me?”

“I think I know what you mean.”

After discussing terms, Gentry said: “I’ll give it a try.”

“Fine, fine.” Nicholson reached for a flimsy from among the papers on his desk. “Take this with you, let me see a finished job in two-three days. If it’s what I want, you’re in. Okay?”

Gentry walked on air back to the station. Chances of regular writing work were hard to come by and this, if it panned out, looked like being lucrative. He studied the outline on the way back to his flat so that he was ready to sit down at his PC.

He worked late into the night—living alone with no close relative or regular girl-friend to run a check on him—breaking the story-line down into scenes, building each scene with character and dialogue in a natural background. It went well for him, perhaps because the subject took his fancy. (Nicholson must have a sense of humor: the plot concerned a horror storywriter devoured by one of his own imaginary creations.) Absurd, registered part of Gentry’s mind; yet oddly convincing in its given detail. He found himself caught up in the fantasy as he worked on.…

Finished, he checked it through and slipped out to post his manuscript before going to bed.

Two mornings later his telephone rang and Nicholson said: “The story’s okay. When can you come for an editorial conference? We want to plan a whole series of yarns at one go—today if you can manage that”

Gentry jumped at the chance. After a hurried cafeteria lunch, he traveled out to the House of Horror.

Nicholson beamed as they shook hands. “You’re in, Gentry, just the man we need. Come on down and meet the gang.”

Gentry assumed he meant the editors of individual books, perhaps other writers. Nicholson led him along the passage to a metal door and used a key he kept on a chain. They stepped into the cage of a lift. Weight fell away from him as they plummeted down, a long way down. A basement?

Nicholson was studying him so he was careful to keep the surprise off his face.

When the cage stopped, Nicholson used a second key and they stepped directly into an oblong room. It was windowless, the lighting concealed, empty except for a long table with chairs grouped about it. There were scribble pads and ballpoints on the table.

At the far end of the room, Gentry saw another metal door, larger than the one through which they had entered. There was a hum of air-conditioning—and another sound, hinting of hidden electronics.

Nicholson glanced at his wristwatch. “We’re early—grab a seat, make yourself comfortable. We shan’t have long to wait.” His voice was flat, without echo, indicating that the room had been soundproofed. “You wouldn’t hear a scream down here.”

It seemed an odd thing to say—and then she far door slid open and Gentry saw, with a start, bright sunlight and grassland extending to the edge of a forest. He blinked, and then the gang came through and he refused to believe his eyes. Actors, of course—they had to be. Nicholson must have one hell of an outré sense of humor.

First came an old crone, dressed in black with a pointed hat, so obviously a witch. She was closely followed by a pallid-skinned man with projecting teeth; vampire. From a third figure came a strong canine smell. Werewolf?

Nicholson’s gaze remained steady on Gentry as he asked softly: “You didn’t think we invented them, did you?”

One by one, they took their places at the conference table; a patchwork-man smelling of the grave, a half-man half-beast, a hooded figure with fleshless skull and empty eye sockets.

“Meet our new writer,” Nicholson said. “Jerome Gentry, he’s done all right on his first.”

The witch—how could she suddenly look so young and desirable?—murmured: “Delighted, Jerome, we must become better acquainted.”

Gentry sat as if in a trance, unable to speak. His mind screamed impossible.…

“Look, Gentry,” Nicholson said. “I’d best put you in the picture—and you’ll keep your mouth shut for a rather obvious reason. Talk, and you’ll be locked away in a madhouse. Through that gateway—” He pointed to the second door—“is another world, a world coexisting with and almost identical to Earth.

“Not quite identical, however; life has taken a somewhat different path as you can see. In the past there must have been some leakage across the boundary from this other world to ours. It’s where our myths and legends stem from, so stop disbelieving and accept reality.

“This other world exists, the people are real and trade goes on between us. The math boys came up with coordinates for a more permanent link, a computer takes care of the detail, and everything is under control. Now let’s get down to story ideas.” He turned to the nightmare figures round the table. “What’s been happening since our last meeting?’

“On the night of the full moon, by the tower in the forest.…”

One by one the figures from legend spoke, and Gentry scribbled notes, his mind automatically building raw material into story form. Stories? But these events had actually happened, they were real in the other world.…

Perhaps two hours had passed when Nicholson said: “Enough. He’s new, remember—give him time to adjust to the situation. Let him get this stuff written up and we’ll meet again next week.”

As in a dream, Gentry watched the strange figures pass through the gateway to their own world. (The werewolf seemed to have difficulty maintaining its shape.) The door closed silently behind them.

Nicholson took his arm, led him back to the lift. They sped upwards. In his office, Nicholson poured two whiskies while Gentry stared from the window, down at the street, the humdrum traffic-jams, suburban shoppers.

“I’m used to them,” Nicholson said, “but they get me sometimes.”

Gentry tossed his drink down so quickly he choked. “I was dreaming, wasn’t I? They couldn’t have been real—”

“Better forget that part of it. Just think of them as a perfect story source. It works out okay—there’s money in it.’

A dark thought crossed Gentry’s mind, but he dismissed it. He was earning!

He traveled home, clutching his briefcase full of notes, and started in on the first story. It went well, a natural, until he began thinking about the reality behind it. He put that firmly from his mind.

He had difficulty sleeping that night, and took a sleeping pill. And then the nightmare started, a nightmare in which he stood alone before that second door and, slowly, it opened.…

All week he worked doggedly, getting the outlines written up. He received prompt payment for his first job and that encouraged him to go on. Needn’t do this for long, he told himself, just get enough money in the bank and then back to the novel. But his nightmare continued, night after night.

Nicholson okayed the series of stories and invited him out for another conference. Gentry thought twice about going: but the reality seemed too incredible to take seriously. He went.

Nicholson looked pleased to see him. “You’ve got the hang of our stuff now—just remember to cool it a bit for the readers. Shall we go down?”

It was after the second conference that Gentry started serious drinking. He was making money, but his nerves suffered. And the nightmare got worse…he had to drink to forget.

There were other meetings, with Nicholson watching him anxiously. He was churning the stuff out now; it came easier all the time. But he couldn’t go on forever; too little sleep and too much drink wore him down. In the end, he phoned Nicholson:

“I’m getting out. I’ve a novel—”

“I understand, Gentry, I know it’s a strain. But don’t let me down before I get a new writer. Just one more time, okay?”

“Okay.” he answered, hesitating.

When Gentry arrived at the House of Horror for the last time, Nicholson seemed relieved. He handed him a glass of whisky before going down in the lift to that locked room. At the bottom, Nicholson unlocked the metal door and nodded for Gentry to go first.

Jerome Gentry stepped from the lift cage into the conference room. He heard the door close behind him, realized the editor wasn’t with him. He turned, calling, “Nicholson—!”

He was alone, the metal door locked. He beat on it, turned again as he heard shuffling steps behind him. The second door had opened.

They were coming for him, and now he knew what form the other side of the bargain took. They caught him, dragged him the length of the room—screaming—and pushed him through into their own world.

The second door slid shut behind them.

Gentry licked dry lips, feeling faint.

The hag mocked: “Shall I cast a love spell, Jerome?”

And the werewolf snarled: “Run fool, run—I feel like hunting!”

Gentry looked round, wild-eyed. The forest seemed reassuringly thick. If he could make it to the tree, hide, maybe sneak back to the door later…he started to run, heart pounding.…

He was halfway to the trees when he guessed the outline his successor would get. Wings flapped overhead. A beast with an eagle’s head and a lion’s body swooped down from the sky. Fierce talons snatched him off his feet as the griffin bore him away to its aerie.

THE TAPESTRY OF TIME, by Eric Brown

That spring, with winter well past and summer on the way, I decided that the time had come to visit Simon Cauldwell.

I had delayed our meeting for a number of reasons, some obvious but others hidden in the depths of my psyche: fear, of course, was dominant I didn’t want to confront Cauldwell with my findings for fear of what I might learn.

I was forty-five, happily married with a ten-year-old daughter, and I held a secure post as a senior lecturer in medieval archaeology at Oxford. I had reached the stage in my life at which I was confident that the future would hold no surprises. Perhaps I was complacent.

Fiona guessed that something was amiss. One evening in April she appeared at the door of my study. She must have been watching me for a while before I looked up and noticed her.

I smiled, tired.

“It’s that skull, isn’t it?”

I massaged my eyes. “What is?” I said, not for the first time amazed at my wife’s perspicacity.

“Dan, ever since you found the thing, you’ve been different. Morose withdrawn. If I believed in that kind of thing, I’d say it was cursed “

I managed to smile. “It’s not cursed,” I said. “Just misplaced. The skeleton was found with artefacts that date from a hundred years later. “

She pushed herself from the jamb of the door and kissed the top of my head.

I said, “The paper I’m writing, trying to explain the anomaly, just isn’t working.…”

“I’m sorry, Dan. Dinner in ten minutes, okay?” She kissed me again and left the room.

Whenever I lied to Fiona, which wasn’t often, I always wondered if she’d seen through me.

Misplaced artefacts, indeed.…

The truth was far more perplexing, and worrying, than that.

A few days later I e-mailed Cauldwell, telling him that I’d had second thoughts about his offer.

He phoned later that afternoon. “Dan, so persistence pays off! You’ve seen sense at last. Good man. Look, when’s convenient for you?”

“I’m free all this week.”

“Excellent. Come over to the research station and I’ll show you around the place. It’s all hush-hush, of course. Top secret and all that.”

“I understand,” I said.

“Tomorrow at one suit? Excellent, see you then.”

I replaced the phone, very aware of my thudding heartbeat. There was no turning back, now.

The headquarters of Sigma Research Inc. was buried away in the Oxfordshire countryside, miles away from the prying eyes of bustling Oxford.

I drove slowly through the tortuous, leafy lanes, considering my imminent meeting with Cauldwell and, despite myself, reviewing my dealings with the man. Despite the tone of bonhomie he had affected on the phone the day before, we had always been sworn rivals. Not to put too fine a point on if I detested him.

He had been one of those old-fashioned academics ensconced in a sinecure at Oxford’s richest and most conservative college. His resistance to theory, his inability to see the worth of research ideologically opposed to his own narrow views, had won him many enemies. Much to the surprise and envy of his colleagues, last year he had been headhunted by Sigma Research, a big American outfit with a lot of dollars and a market-led excavation theory.

A few months after Cauldwell left Oxford, I discovered the eleventh-century skull at a dig near the village of Sheppey, Herefordshire.

And a couple of days after that, Cauldwell himself phoned to invite me to join his team at Sigma Research. More than a little suspicious, I had told him I was quite happy at Oxford, thanks all the same.

Now I was following up his invitation—purely in the interests of research, of course.

* * * *

Cauldwell met me in a plush reception area resplendent with thick crimson carpet and a jungle of potted-palms. It looked more like the foyer of a multi-national bank than the reception area of a private archaeological company.

He came smiling towards me, hand outstretched. “Dan, so pleased.…”

Everything about him was big. He had a big, square head on big, wide shoulders. Even at college his dress had been eccentric: now he wore a loud shirt with a pattern a la Pollock, a pair of those ridiculous knee-length khaki shorts, and sandals from which his big, bare toes protruded obscenely.

He passed me a small plastic identity card. Next to an entwined SR was my name, and above it a small photograph he’d obviously downloaded from the college website.

“Follow me. I’ll give you the tour. You’re privileged, of course. Not every Tom, Dick or Harry gets this. Just prospective employees.”

I followed, not a little disgruntled at his assumption that I would be impressed.

He showed me into his office, a spacious area with few books but the latest computer technology.

What took my attention, however, was the plate glass window at the back of the room. It looked out over a big sunken chamber in which a dozen white-coated scientists were working at terminals.

He was saying, “I didn’t know what research was till I began working for Sigma, Dan. I take it you read my last paper in Historical Review?”

I nodded, I had been impressed, despite myself.

Cauldwell smiled. “Ground-breaking, even if I do say so myself. Less to do with me than with the work of my team.” He gestured through the glass at his ‘team’.

I glanced at him. Such modesty was not usually his forte.

“Come, I’ll show you the working end of the business.”

He led me through a door and down a flight of steps into the sunken chamber.

Even at this stage, of course, I had my suspicions.

The chamber looked like the futuristic set of some sci-fi blockbuster: ranked computer terminals and banks of silver devices like lasers. At the far end of the room, however, and seeming out of place, was a tall, arched aperture that resembled nothing so much as a stained glass window.

I stared, surprised, for that was what I had assumed it to be: a stained glass window, however inappropriate that might be in this secular setting.

Closer inspection revealed a rectangle of polychromatic tesserae, constantly shifting.

A woman in a white lab-coat came up to Cauldwell and passed him a small com-screen.

She smiled at me.

“Sally,” I said. Would the surprises never end?

“Dan, fancy meeting you here.£

“I was about to say the same!”

Sally Reichs had been one of the finest post-grad students to come out of Oxford in years. By her mid-thirties, she’d written a couple of far-sighted books on her subject, the metallurgy of Anglo-Saxon Britain—and then disappeared from the scene.

Now I knew why. Headhunted.

The odd thing was, she had professed an intense dislike of Simon Cauldwell while they were both working in the archaeology department at Oxford. More than once she had confided to me that she found his views, both professional and personal, detestable.

She must have seen my confusion. She gave me a look—a lop-sided, almost resigned smile—which signalled that she would tell me all at some point.

“Sal’s quite brilliant,” Cauldwell said as she returned to her terminal. “But of course you know that.”

I ignored him, and gestured at the multi-coloured screen at the far end of the chamber. A low hum, almost on the threshold of audibility, filled the air—along with what felt like a static charge.

I guessed, of course, but even then never really believed that my guess was correct.

Cauldwell gestured, and we walked along an aisle between ranked terminals.

We paused beneath the aperture—it was perhaps three metres high—like supplicants.

Cauldwell said, “Did you wonder how I came to write such a revolutionary paper?”

I looked at him. “It wasn’t quite what I’ve come to expect from you,” I said.

He smiled at that. “Ah, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

A question caught in my throat. i was suddenly aware that I was sweating. “Tell me what’s going on here,” I almost pleaded.

Cauldwell nodded, not looking at me but staring at the shifting patterns on the surface of the screen. Seen closer to, the colours had about them the slick sheen sometimes seen on petroleum.

“What do you know about quantum physics, Dan?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I admitted.

“Planck theory? Gupta’s updating of Einstein?” He waved away mv admission of ignorance. “No matter. Theory isn’t required—merely the appreciation of the end result.”

“Which is?”

He paused, then said, “Sigma Research has managed to break down the barriers that have hitherto prevented our access to other times.”

He stopped there and looked at me, smiling. The word smug might have been coined to describe his self-satisfied expression.

“They do it with super-conducted tachyons and hyper-charged baryonic particles—I know, it doesn’t make much sense to me, either. The result, at any rate, is a passage into the past, though never into the future. Once a month—as the expenditure of energy is prohibitively high—very briefly the portal is opened: three months ago onto 1050, last month 1052. We’re going for 1054 in a few days from now.”

I had known all along, of course. At least I told myself as much. How else to explain the anomaly of the skull?

I considered telling Cauldwell about my discovery, but something stopped me.

He was saying, “The only real problem, Dan, is that we can’t open the portal onto any time more than once. For the period of a year, the tachyon vectors specific to that time are seriously weakened and won’t support passage. I mean, it would be wonderful to revisit specific times, but alas that’s impossible.”

I stared at him. “You mean, you actually visit, physically visit, these times?”

He nodded, smug again. “We do, though only for strictly allotted periods of up to thirty minutes. The power-drain, you see.…”

I nodded, as if he had been explaining the cost of running an expensive car.

“At any rate, it would be superfluous to explain quite what a benefit to historical understanding this breakthrough has been.…” Nevertheless, unable to pass up the opportunity for a lecture, Cauldwell proceeded to tell me all about his latest discoveries.

He conducted me around the chamber, interleaving his historical lecture with complex scientific explanations.

One hour later I found myself back in his office.

Over a coffee, Cauldwell said, “So, Dan, let me at last get to purpose of showing you around. Despite our differences, I respect your work. I think you could be a great asset to my team here at Sigma Research.”

He passed a folder across the desk. “A contract. I think you’ll find it more than a little enticing. Of course, I don’t want an immediate answer. Go away and think about it for a few days. You have my e-mail if you have any questions.”

A little later, he rose and shook my hand.

I made to return the ID he had given me.

“Keep if Dan,” he said. “You’ll need it, if you do decide to join the team.”

I emerged into the bright summer sunlight not a little dazed—a few questions answered, of course, but others remaining tantalizingly opaque.

I drove slowly home, and decided that I would tell Fiona everything when I returned. It would help to talk, and her insight might shed light on aspects of the situation I was too blind to perceive.

That evening, over dinner, I told Fiona about my discovery of the skull and my subsequent investigations, then Cauldwell’s offering me a job and showing me around the Sigma Research station.

She pushed her glass of wine aside and stared at me. “But…I mean, are you sure the bullet—”

I interrupted, “Of course I’m sure. The bullet passed through the left orbit and scoured a groove around the back of the skull. Death would have been instantaneous. The groove had aged over the centuries—it hadn’t been made recently.”

“But how would that be possible in the eleventh century? Perhaps it wasn’t a bullet.”

“It was. I found it lodged in the nasal cavity, eroded but recognizably a modern .02 bullet.”

Fiona shook her head. “So this time-travel device at Sigma research.… It must be connected, right? Someone goes back to that time—to, when was it, the 1070s?—and shoots dead some poor bloody innocent Anglo-Saxon.…”

I massaged my eyes, wearily “Fiona, there’s more.” I ordered my thoughts. “Although the skull dated from that time, circa 1070, it was the skull of a modern man.”

“You aren’t making sense, Dan!”

“Its upper jaw showed signs of contemporary dental work. A couple of fillings.…”

Fiona nodded. “So it was someone from the research team who travelled back in time and was shot dead?”

“That’s what happened. I made enquiries, accessed dental records. I found out who the skull belonged to.”

She stared at me. “Whose, Dan?”

“Simon Cauldwell’s.” I said. “That isn’t all.” I swept on. “I consulted a ballistics expert, and from the bullet I found in the skull we identified the weapon used to kill Cauldwell.”

She opened her mouth. I think she knew what was coming.

Last year, after a spate of violent robberies in the area, I had insisted that we purchase a pistol for the times when Fiona would be alone in the house.

“Not ours?” she said in barely a whisper.

I nodded. “Ours.”

We went through all the possibilities over the course of the next hour or two. Did I kill Simon Cauldwell when I accepted the offered post and traveled back in time with him to the eleventh century? Why would I do such a thing? Granted, I didn’t like the man—but I would never dream of shooting him dead.

And anyway, I had no intention of accepting his offer. Despite the amazing possibilities opened up by Sigma Research’s temporal breakthrough, I could not see myself as some kind of Wellsian time-traveller.

But the fact remained—Cauldwell was shot dead, at some point in the eleventh century, with my pistol.

We went to bed late that night, and Fiona held me and made me promise that I would not take the Sigma post.

I promised…and tried to sleep, but my mind was full of temporal causality and paradox, and I passed a fitful night.

* * * *

Fiona was out at yoga the following evening when the doorbell chimed.

I made my way from the study and pulled open the front door.

Sally Reichs stood in the April shower, looking determined.

“Sally, what on Earth—?”

“I’m sorry. I had to see someone. It’s important. I thought of you—I knew you’d listen.” She stared at me, as if challenging me to deny her access.

“Of course, come in.”

Bemused, I led her through the house to my study and sat her in the leather chair behind my desk. “Can I get you something? Coffee? Something stronger?”

“You don’t happen to have a brandy?”

“On its way.”

I fixed a double Remi Martin in the lounge, and one for myself, and ferried them back to the study.

Sally was drying her face with a tissue. She took a breath, composing herself.

I sat on the armchair beside the desk and said, “Now, how can I help?”

“I can’t confide in friends. They’d hardly believe me if l told them about what’s going on at Sigma Research. Then I thought of you—Cauldwell’s trying to recruit you, right?”

“He did ask if I’d like to join his team, yes.”

“Don’t!” Her vehemence was surprising. “I mean, you don’t know what it’s like. Cauldwell isn’t sane—”

“Sally, slow down. Take it easy. Now, what do you mean?”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve been back with him on two sorties now, to 1050 and 1052. They were mainly reconnaissance, observation.”

I nodded, amazed at my calm reaction to something so amazing as this casual talk of time travel.…

“And?”

“He wants to conduct an experiment. He has a theory—something to do with causality. Quantum physics. String theory. I don’t honestly understand, but he thinks that there’s more to existence than just this reality. He thinks that this world is one of an infinite number of similar worlds, and that every event in history somehow creates new, divergent time-lines—in effect, new realities, new worlds.”

I vaguely recalled watching an episode of Horizon on TV about something similar, though it had gone way over my head at the time.

“And Simon intends…?” I began.

Sally nodded. “He wants to do something back there that would prove the theory one way or another. Maybe introduce an invention, something the Anglo Saxons didn’t have back then. I don’t know.… But you see, I’m afraid that if he does go through with it.…” She paused there, staring at me.

“If he did this, and it changed things.… Christ, I can’t work it out. If he did change things, would that mean we’d be changed, this reality? Or would it mean that we’d simply go on as before, but that another reality would spring into existence, diverging from his intervention in the eleventh century?”

l stared at her, my head spinning. “If his theory of multiple realities is correct, then his intervention would merely create just another reality. But if he’s wrong, if there’s only one reality.…” I pressed my temple, trying to work through the logic, “then wouldn’t that mean that if he did make a change, then things would change here, too?”

Sally smiled. “But if his intervention back then changed the future, our present—then possibly Sigma Research might never come into being. But then how would he have been able to travel back to make the change!”

“The irresolvable paradox,” I murmured.

She nodded. “But do you see why he has to be stopped? If there is only one reality, and he changes it…then who knows what chaos he might wreak on our time!”

I said, “Tell the high-ups at Sigma, okay? They won’t let him go through with it.”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll do that. We’re activating the interface to 1054 tonight, at midnight. I’ll talk to someone before we go.”

I fetched Sally another brandy, and we went through the mind-bending complexities of the situation once again. Towards ten o’clock, as she made to leave, I urged her again to confide in her superiors at Sigma.

At the door she gave me a quick hug, and ran out into the rain.

I watched her scarlet Renault speed into the night, then made my way back to the study. I fixed myself another brandy and sat for an hour, going over what Sally had said and trying to untangle the convoluted skein of paradox with which she had presented me.

I should have made the connection earlier, of course, Perhaps the alcohol had dulled my senses.

Belatedly, I stood and crossed to the bookshelf where, next to the skull, I had kept the pistol.

It was not there, of course. In the time I had taken to fetch Sally a brandy, she had seen the pistol…the answer to her dilemma.

I hurried from the house and drove away at speed, though I knew the pursuit was futile. Sally had more than an hour on me, and, anyway, wasn’t Simon Cauldwell’s death pre-ordained, a fact ineluctably woven into the tapestry of time?

I reached the Sigma Research station at twenty minutes after midnight.

I flashed the ID Cauldwell had given me at the bored security guard on reception and made my way into the chamber.

The scene through the interface stopped me in my tracks.

The portal framed a vivid sunrise over rolling hills, with a wattle-and-daub village in the middle-ground. As I watched, transfixed, the scene shimmered like a heat haze.

“They should be back by now!” a technician called.

I walked forward, unnoticed by the white-coated staff who had their attention on more pressing matters. We gazed up at the shimmering scene as if in awe.

“Communication’s down!” someone called. “We’ve lost contact. If they don’t get back.…” She left the sentence unfinished.

“I can’t hold it any longer! It’s going!”

“They knew how long they had out there!” someone cried in despair.

The scene flickered, then. It stuttered like the image on a silent movie. It stabilized for a few seconds, showing the pristine, bucolic scene. Then the image winked out, to be replaced by the stained-glass effect of the interface in its deactivated phase.

The scene returned again—and I saw two small figures in the distance. They were standing face to face on a hillside perhaps a hundred metres away, and I judged that if they had moved themselves to sprint towards the interface they might have reached safety before the final shutdown.

But it appeared that they had other concerns. They faced each other in obvious confrontation, gesticulating: one figure moved forward, attempted to grab the other. Sally backed away, gesturing.

She reached for something in her jacket—

And the interface closed for the very last time.

The aperture could not be opened to exactly the same period, of course: no miraculous rescue of the time-travelers could be affected, for now.

A technician tried to calm his colleagues. He said that in the morning they would attempt to open the portal to the closest time possible to 1054, which would be 1056.

He was confident that Cauldwell and Reichs would be awaiting salvation.…

Only I knew that only Reichs would be waiting.

* * * *

I was wrong, as it happened.

Sally Reichs never returned to the twenty-first century. The disappearance of Cauldwell and Reichs was reported in the Oxford papers, briefly picked up by the national dailies, and then quietly forgotten.

Later that year I read that Sigma Research was closing its British base and relocating to the States, and I assumed that that would be the end of the affair.

A year after their disappearance, I received a call from my deputy at the dig near Sheppey.

They had, she said, made a truly astounding discovery.

I drove out to the site in record time, and beheld with wonder the shallow pit which cradled the skeleton of a woman judged to be in her seventies—old for the Middle Ages. And the truly astounding discovery?

In a clay amphora wedged beside the corpse was a crude paper scroll, covered in minute handwriting.

The script, of course, was in contemporary English.

* * * *

The following night I sat with Fiona in the conservatory, drank a glass of red wine and read a copy of Sally Reichs’ eleventh-century journal.

I have had a long and happy life, she wrote. I did what I had to do, I believe, and then found people I came to trust and love. I could have returned to the hillside, perhaps, and ventured home…but after two years in this age I had discovered something…someone…important to me.

But let me begin at the beginning, in a time far away from this one.…

I stared through the conservatory window and considered Sally Reichs. I tried to decide if she was a fool or a hero, whether she had unjustifiably killed Simon Cauldwell on irrational grounds, or if her premeditated murder had indeed saved the future from some unknowable chronic catastrophe.…

Outside, the sun went down in a blaze of crimson glory.

UNCERTAIN WORLD, by Eric Brown

Marshall sat on the balcony overlooking the bay, waiting as he’d waited patiently for the past two days. The sun set, and the stars came out above this strange new Earth. In the distance, along the coast, he made out the whitewashed adobe dwellings rising up the hillside. In the night sky, between Lupus and Scorpius, in low orbit, was the Christmas bauble brightness of his ship.

He stood and strode to the edge of the patio, as he’d done half a dozen times during the past forty-eight hours. A pair of Africans in kaftans smiled benignly up at him. Two other guards were stationed at the back of the villa, enforcing his house arrest.

He was on the coast of what had been Africa. Down below, on the sea-front wall, families promenaded, couples walked arm in arm. The sight of them created an ache in his chest. He had never felt so alone in his life, not even in deep space, in the photon sleet of the supernova where he’d lost his crew—all but his diminutive Thai deputy commander, Ki.

Where was she now?

They had separated him from Ki as soon as they had come down in the shuttle close to what had been Freetown, and he hadn’t seen her since. He had been debriefed—though they hadn’t called it that—by a woman as tall, attenuated and ebon as a Masai warrior. She had called herself Tem, and had asked him about his mission: How long ago had they set off from Earth? What had been their aim?

Incredulous at her ignorance, he had told her.

“And you say that your ship carried five thousand frozen colonists?” She spoke English, but heavily accented, so that Marshall was forced to concentrate to make out each word.

“Suspended would be a better description. They consume no food, nor use amenities when suspended. At journey’s end, when we found a suitable colony world, they’d be awoken. At least, that was the plan.”

The woman had asked how it was that he had set off from Earth two hundred years ago, and yet he seemed no older now than forty?

“We travelled at the speed of light,” he began. “You mean, you haven’t heard of Einstein?”

She had shaken her head, the simple gesture speaking volumes, and blandly asked, “And did you discover life out there, habitable planets?”

He had answered truthfully: no, and no…and asked questions of his own: What had happened to the Luna receiving station, to the United Space Corporation? And what had they done with Ki?

She had merely smiled and said, “In time, Mr. Marshall. In time,” and left him alone in the villa, angry and curious and not a little frightened.

What place for him in a world without the USC? It had been bad enough returning home having discovered neither alien life forms, nor colonizable worlds. But to return to an Earth that was ignorant of the original mission…!

What had happened in the two centuries they had been away?

He hit the balcony rail and almost wept.

* * * *

That night he dreamed of the supernova again. He heard the scream of the ruptured solar magnetosphere, the transmitted cries of his team as they realized they were doomed.

The primary had blown while his team were investigating a planet that had shown evidence of life. The world and his team—twelve good men and women—had perished in the merciless radiation blast-front, and he had had no option but to light out of the system with his deputy, Ki Pandaung, and head for Earth, defeated.

He came awake weeping with grief, then remembered where he was.

* * * *

In the morning he awoke to the intense dazzle of sunlight, and reached out. His hand encountered the coolness of a bed empty but for himself: no Ki.

They had come together during the homeward flight. They had always been close, but duty had filled their time and thoughts with other matters. Now, with no duty, and time on their hands, they had sought solace in each other, and the solace had been lifesaving.

He showered and moved to the kitchen. While he slept, the table had been laid with cereal and fruit. Last night he had stepped into the kitchen to find that a cold meal had been prepared for him, brought in, presumably, while he brooded on the balcony. Tonight he would remain in the kitchen, to catch his keeper in the act and demand some explanations.

He ate, and the food tasted wrong. As ever it was too sweet, with a chemical tang, and he wondered if his diet of shipboard nutrients for the past ten years had left him with an intolerance of real food. After the meal he felt nauseous.

He moved to the patio and stood staring down at the paved sea-walk, where citizens strolled in the bright sunlight. Loneliness swept over him in a wave.

The first thing he would demand, when the woman returned, was that he be reunited with Ki. It was bad enough to be denied freedom on an Earth he little understood—and which, presumably, did not understand him—but to be alone in this ordeal was intolerable, quite apart from the fact that he was worried for his lover’s welfare.

He wanted to cry out to the people down below, “What kind of world have you made in my absence? What kind of world, ignorant of Einstein and starships and science?”

He smiled. They would stare up at him, uncomprehending.

A noise, from the villa at his back, startled him. The woman, come to resume her ignorant questioning?

He hurried from the patio.

He found the intruder in the kitchen, and automatically assumed that he had caught the person who replenished his table.

She was short, black, shaven-headed. She dropped into a defensive crouch when he entered the room.

“Don’t move!” he called out. He pointed to a chair. “Sit down right there and tell me what the hell’s going on.”

Instead of obeying, she straightened and smiled at him. She approached and held out her hand. “Commander Marshall. You don’t know how privileged I feel to make your acquaintance at last. I have come to get you out of here.” She spoke with the same thick accent as the first woman.

Bemused, he shook the proffered hand. “You have?”

“Explanations later,” the women said. “Follow me.”

She slipped from the kitchen. He followed. A veranda at the back of the villa looked out over rising scrubland, with a margin of jungle in the distance. She tapped down the steps, paused at the bottom, and gestured for him to follow. There was no sign of the guards.

He hurried after the woman, up the incline and into the jungle. A worn path led through the undergrowth, leaves overhead blocking out the sun and creating an aqueous twilight.

* * * *

He caught up with her and panted, “How did you…? The guards?”

“They are our people,” she said quickly over her shoulder.

It felt wonderful to be moving again, though a small voice at the back of his mind did question the wisdom of trusting this woman over the one who had imprisoned him. In a situation of total ignorance, which devil to trust?

The climb eased off. They came to a crest and began dropping. Within minutes, the woman parted leaves to reveal the broad, sluggish width of a chocolate-brown river.

A small wooden boat was moored to a tree stump. The woman drew it to the bank and clambered in, offering a hand to assist Marshall. After a fractional hesitation, he took it and seated himself opposite her.

At the bow, she lowered an amazingly ancient two-stroke engine, its battered prop beating the water as ineffectively as an egg whisk. To his surprise, the boat moved slowly upstream, the woman at the tiller keeping it in the shadow of the overhanging vegetation.

Marshall said, “Now will you explain yourself?”

The woman smiled in the half-light. “Where would you like me to begin?”

“For a start.… Do you know the whereabouts of my colleague, Ki Pandaung? They parted us as soon as we landed.”

She stared back at him with big, black eyes, and nodded fractionally. “We’re attempting to free your deputy commander,” she said.

“Who are you? Where are you taking me? What’s happened to the world while I’ve been away?” He thought about how the woman had greeted him. “And presumably you’ve heard of me? So you aren’t as ignorant as my jailers?”

Her smile widened. “That would be difficult, Commander. Where to begin?” She looked back quickly, over her shoulder, her quick eyes scanning the tangled riverbank. She faced him again. “I’m Buchi. That’s not my real name—in case you’re recaptured and they question you. I work for the resistance.”

“The resistance?” he echoed. “The resistance to what?”

“To the ruling hegemony, the Artecrats, as we call them. You’re an embarrassment to them—which is why they’re killing you.”

He stared at her. “Killing?”

“Your food,” she said matter-of-factly, “was poisoned. You would have been dead in another two days.”

He thought of the meals he had taken so far, the nausea that had followed. “Where are you taking me?”

She laughed at that. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Commander!”

He nodded. “Okay, we’ll pass on that.” He considered his next question. “But can you tell me what’s happened to the Earth I left?”

He eyes darkened at the question, and she nodded. “That would be a pleasure.”She nudged the tiller. They drew even closer to the bank, puttering quietly through the dappled shade.

“Nearly fifty years after the Endeavor set off for the stars, the world almost ended. They called it the bio-war at the time. It wasn’t a war in the way you would understand, not nation against nation—more ideology against ideology. The casualties were unimaginable—abstract figures, Commander, so vast as to be almost meaningless. More than three quarters of the world’s population was wiped out in five years after the first bio-engineered plague was released.”

“Three quarters…,” he echoed. “Four, five billion people?”

She shrugged. “Approximately that, yes.”

“Who was responsible?”

“The disaffected, the un-enfranchised. Terrorist groups. Anarchists. Religious zealots.” She shrugged again. “They seemed to work on the principle that if they could not get what they wanted—power—then no one else should have it. After ten years, the human race was in danger of becoming extinct.”

“What happened?”

“A new order came to power. A regime as ruthless as it was determined to get what it wanted, at any cost.”

“And it wanted?”

“Stability, but not if it meant a return to the old ways. They despised the way the world had been. They blamed those in power before the bio-war for the state of the world. They set about ensuring that the war or anything like it could never happen again.”

Marshall shook his head. “How could they do that?” he asked. Humans are humans, he thought.

She raised a finger to her lips. “Shh!”

He looked over his shoulder, following the direction of her gaze. They were approaching a split in the river: a wedge-shaped island divided the muddy flow into two thick streams. Buchi nudged the tiller and they edged up the narrower, right-most stream. She scanned the bank, her eyes wide, and said nothing.

* * * *

At last she cut the engine and they drifted towards the riverbank.

From between the trees, startling him, a figure emerged. Buchi threw him a rope and he made fast the boat to the bole of a palm. The man—an African—stared at Marshall with an expression that combined disbelief and awe.

Buchi gestured to Marshall, and he clambered onto the riverbank, the man assisting him with the obsequious care of a servant.

Buchi hurried through the jungle, following a worn path. Marshall was minded to ask her again where they were going, but his guide’s headlong rush through dappled sunlight and verdant shadow prevented any interrogation.

To think that just three days ago he was aboard the Endeavor, with Ki, heading home.…

Ahead, Buchi slowed, and gestured for Marshall and the African to follow suit.

Beyond Buchi, Marshall made out the shape of a small villa on a patch of raised ground. Perhaps half a dozen figures were emerging from the building—men and women, black and white—hurrying in the manner of people wanting to be away from somewhere, fast.

Among them, Marshall made out a single diminutive figure, though his head warned him against hope.

The group filed away from the villa, and Buchi gestured for Marshall and the other to follow her. Seconds later they met with the group on the path, and Buchi turned and watched Marshall, a big smile on her face, as he stopped and stared.

Seconds later Ki was in his arms, clinging to him. He was speechless, unable to bring himself to articulate the joy and relief that slammed through him.

She pulled her head back, staring at him. He took in the perfection of her feline features, high cheekbones and canted eyes. They had endured so much together, lived through such hardship. In all the universe they had only each other. He embraced her again, before Buchi touched his shoulder. “We should be moving.”

The others were already running quickly through the jungle. Hand in hand, Marshall and Ki gave chase, Buchi following.

They passed the villa, heading away from where they had left the boat, and Marshall’s curiosity increased. Buchi and her band seemed to have his interests in mind…but where were they heading? Who were these rebels? Who were the rulers of this new, remodelled world, the Artecrats, as Buchi had called them?

Ahead, the leaders were slowing. Marshall made out the scintillating glint of water through foliage. They had arrived at another stretch of river, and Ki’s liberators were climbing into a small skip powered by an engine just as rudimentary as the first.

They boat was almost full by the time Marshall, Ki and Buchi climbed on board. The others made room, shuffling up on hard slatted seats, steadying the new arrivals as they sat.

The engine kicked and the skip surged upriver, keeping to the shade.

Marshall looked around, realising that he and Ki were the center of attention. The men and women were smiling at them, almost shyly. They appeared the most ill-assorted collection of rebels that Marshall could imagine.

“Ki Pandaung,” Buchi said, “welcome to Earth.”

Ki nodded, her eyes guarded. “I hope you’ll be more open than the people who imprisoned me,” she said, glancing at Marshall.

“We’ll try to answer whatever you need to know,” Buchi said. “Already I’ve told your Commander what has happened to the world since your departure.”

“A descent into primitivism, as far as I can see,” Ki said.

Marshall detected smiles all around. Buchi said, “Exactly!”

Marshall told Ki, “Fifty years after we left Earth, a conflict called the bio-war broke out…,” and he gave her a shorter version of the story Buchi had recounted.

When he finished, he paused and looked up, across the skip at Buchi. “Which brings me to the question I was about to ask,” he said. “How did the…the Artecrats, as you call them…bring about world stability after the bio-war?”

A mutter passed through those gathered in the boat. Someone spat, significantly, into the river.

Ki took Marshall’s hand and squeezed.

Buchi said, “The world after the bio-war was a ravaged place. Countries as such no longer existed. The infrastructure of civilization was wrecked. Homo sapiens had reverted to savagery, living in tribes and preying on their neighbours. Little in the way of knowledge and culture survived.”

“Then how did the Artecrats—?” Ki began.

“A few people came together,” Buchi said. “They had a vision. They built a small community, began farming, became self-sufficient. They attracted other groups, who renounced violence for the new way. Perhaps the human race was sick and tired of conflict, of killing…at the time.” She paused, looked around at the staring eyes of her compatriots. She went on, “These people called themselves the Artecrats. They foreswore anything that smacked of the old way of life, of the old way that had brought the world to the state it was in. They renounced science and technology, or rather everything but the most rudimentary forms of technology. They used ploughs and such, but nothing mechanised. Machines were anathema, and those that used them or espoused their use were cast out—which at that time meant certain death. Society grew and prospered. Africa, where the Artecrats were based, became once more the cradle of humankind.”

Ki was shaking her head in puzzlement. “And yet you oppose the Artecrats?”

Buchi held her head up proudly. “We oppose their ignorance, their wilful renunciation of the great heritage that made our race what it was, for good and bad. The Artecrats made the fundamental mistake of citing scientific progress as the sole reason for the bio-war, without taking into consideration the politics that divided the old world.”

She paused, then went on, “Much that was great was lost when the Artecrats proscribed science and technology, my friends. But worse was to come. They were powerful, totally powerful, and their edicts went unopposed…at least to begin with. No longer satisfied with eradicating science, they set about eradicating from humanity itself the very scientific urge.”

Ki and Marshall exchanged a glance. “How could they do that?”

Buchi smiled, but without humor. “The Artecrats,” she said, “instituted a programme of genocide. They systematically put to death those people who they claimed were genetically different to themselves.”

“Genetically different?” Ki said, “but surely the Artecrats—the survivors of the bio-war—were founded on a philosophy independent of genetic difference?”

“That’s what you might think,” Buchi replied. “But the Artecrats thought otherwise. They had a theory to account for the war. They claimed to have discovered that humankind was divided in a way other than the usual established divisions, of sex, race, philosophy, etc.”

Ki shook her head. “In what way?” she said.

“Neurologically,” Buchi said. “The Artecrats claimed that humankind was divided, up here—” she touched her head “—into those that were predisposed to the arts, and those predisposed to science and technology. The old right brain, left brain dichotomy.” She smiled. “They had people…little better than witch-doctors, in our opinion…who claimed that they could detect Technos at birth. And they proceeded to cull the human race of all those with a scientific propensity.”

Marshall looked at Ki, and wondered at the world in which he found himself.

“Even today,” Buchi went on, “thousands of innocent children are butchered every month.…”

The boat slowed, the engine cutting from a steady putter to a slow chug. Marshall peered through the shade to the blinding dazzle of sunlight ahead. Heads were turning, as if in anticipation of reaching journey’s end.

Ki said, “And you people oppose the regime of the Artecrats?”

Buchi smiled. “We call ourselves the Technos. We are the few who fell through the net, who were not ‘detected’ at birth. We exist side by side with the Artecrats, but live a shadow life studying the old ways, reviving as best we can the scientific lore of those who went before us.”

Marshall asked, “And you wish us to join you, to oppose the Artecrats, teach you what we know?”

The African laughed. Others around her smiled. “Together we will embark upon a journey to re-establish the human race to what it was, to what it should be.”

“I don’t see how that would be possible,” Ki objected, “if the Artecrats rule what’s left of Earth.”

Buchi said, “We monitored your broadcasts. We had prayed for years that you might return. When we read that you had lost your crew.…”

“What?” Marshall asked, suspicious.

Buchi merely smiled in reply and pointed ahead. The jungle to their right was thinning to reveal a flat, parched open area—a clearing familiar from their descent.

Marshall’s breath caught in his throat.

Sitting proudly in the center of the clearing, stanchioned on ram-rods like a praying mantis, was their shuttle. It had been under guard at one point, but now the guards were gathered in the margin of the jungle, a gaggle of bemused looking men watched over by a group of rebels armed with crude pistols and swords.

“We are trained in many disciplines,” Buchi said. “We will take the place of your crew, and learn as we work.”

Ki stared at him. They had returned home in despair, their mission a failure, and now they were being offered another chance.

Buchi went on, “We will head inwards, on a vector towards the core, and search until we find habitable, Earth-like planets.”

“And then?” Ki asked.

The boat slowed and nudged the bank. Buchi leapt out, assisting Marshall and Ki, followed by the others. They paused to stare up at the magnificent, rearing shape of the shuttle.

Buchi pointed at a colleague, already hurrying across the clearing towards the shuttle. The man was toting a heavy backpack. “We have devised our own device for genetically testing new-borns—this one based on scientific principles. Among the stars we will found a society of Technocrats, and the human race will fulfil its destiny.”

As Buchi set off, followed by her disciples, Ki grabbed Marshall’s arm and held him back. “They’re as bad as the Artecrats!” she said. “Can you imagine a totalitarian regime consisting of only scientists!”

“The oppressed,” Marshall murmured, “often mimic the only lead they have known.”

Tears appeared in Ki’s eyes. “And where would we fit into such a society?”

He smiled. He was a scientist by vocation. But in his heart he had always called himself an artist. On the return journey to Earth he had filled his time, quite apart from loving Ki, in writing poetry.

And Ki had created sweeping plasma graphics of the nova in a bid to purge her grief.

Ki said, “I couldn’t remain on Earth, part of a society that would rather see me dead.”

“Then we’ll join the Technos,” Marshall said, taking her hand and drawing her towards the shuttle. “Over the years ahead we’ll work to make them see the blindness of their vision.”

They ran across the clearing, beneath the merciless sun of Africa, and joined the rebels as they swarmed aboard the shuttle.

* * * *

Marshall and Ki stood before the viewscreen in the control nacelle of the Endeavor, staring down at planet Earth. Buchi and her people were ensconced in their acceleration pods, sleeping children dreaming of a bright new future.

Ki knelt, examining the contents of the rebel’s backpack. She looked up at Marshall. “It’s so primitive it couldn’t detect the genetic difference between you and me!” she laughed.

“Disable the device,” Marshall ordered. “We’ll claim it was affected by the transition to light speed.”

Ki reached out and squeezed his fingers.

They strapped themselves into the control couches and Marshall took one last look at the Earth. The globe showed the blue expanse of the Atlantic ocean, with the silver shape of the American continents fitting snugly along its length, like a yin-yang symbol.

“Adieu, farewell Earth’s bliss,” Ki quoted. “This world uncertain is.…”

And then the Endeavor accelerated, and the Earth was gone.

I’LL KISS YOU GOODNIGHT, by Frederick H. Christian

He has just gone, although his haunted face seems still to hang in the silent space before my eyes. I stand alone in the deserted hall, the small light above the porch casting its yellow tine across the stairway, and my mind screams like a tortured bird. I cannot escape what he has told me. It could not be true that in the age if interplanetary exploration, in a world on the threshold of the conquest of all major diseases, that so medieval a terror can still exist. And yet, and yet.…

It began with the accident. It was my own fault, and I have no excuses for that. My mind full of other things, I stepped off a pavement without looking, straight into the path of an oncoming lorry.

I woke up in hospital, encased in plaster, my head bandaged, my life in balance. Many blood transfusions, specialists’ examinations, two operations and six weeks later I was brought home in a wheelchair, and in the weeks since then I have been unable to work.

The doctors spoke of slight brain damage caused by massive concussion, of damage to the optical nerves, of a hugely shocked metabolism. They said I might experience new and unknown allergies, headaches, even hallucinations. And so I braced myself for them, and when they came they were not the shock to me they might otherwise have been.

They were unconnected with anything within my previous experience. For instance, I have always loved Continental cooking, and my wife always has garlic cloves in the kitchen. She had to throw them out after I was violently ill when she used garlic in a salad we ate one evening. It got progressively worse until I could not bear the thought of that garlic and my entire body categorically refused to go into the kitchen where it was kept. I tried to conquer it, to make my mind the master of my sweating, convulsing frame, but it was no use. As soon as Elizabeth took the garlic out into the dustbin, the seizures passed and I was normal again.

As time went by another curious thing happened. In the daytime, I found myself becoming more and more lethargic, less interested in the day-to-day events of our world, falling into deep sleeps from which my frantic wife could not awaken me.

And yet at night, as soon as the sun was down, I was wide awake, all thought of slumber vanished, prowling the house and fighting a curious urge to go out, nowhere in particular, to roam, to prowl, to tread the soft stillness of the misty night.

I discovered, too, that sunlight hurt my eyes, and that I could no longer stand the soft caress of the sun upon my skin. Where in other times I would have basked happily for months on end in the blazing heat on a Malaga beach, I could now hardly spend an hour in comfort on a dull day in the English countryside.

The doctors shrugged their shoulders; they prescribed blood tonics and iron tablets and other drugs to combat what hey diagnosed as chronic anaemia. Strengthen your bloodstream, they told me, and you’ll be fit in no time. But none of their remedies worked.

My wife and I were hardly what you would call regular churchgoers, but, like many families, we would attend our local parish church at Easter and Christmas. When Easter came, we drove down to the church. A strange sense of dread took possession of me; the nearer we got to the church, the more tense my entire body became. Sweat streamed from me as we turned into Church lane, and although I exerted every ounce of my willpower to prevent it, a high keening noise issued from my throat, terrorising my wife, who told me afterwards that she had never heard anything like it coming from a human being—and my wife was once a nurse in a mental hospital. The worst, however, was yet to come.

At the bottom end of Church lane, the open portals of the church face the road, and the spire of St. Margaret’s casts its shadow across the little cul-de-sac. I do not know what happened; I can only relate what my wife told me. As we parked the car opposite the church, I had a fit. They rushed me to hospital, where I awoke recalling nothing except an insane dream which left the memory of only one word in my brain: death.

* * * *

You cannot keep conditions such as mine secret in a small community. I knew that our neighbors were shaking their heads sadly, and talking about me as ‘that poor mad fellow.’ Even my beloved Elizabeth looked drawn and careworn, for my allergies, my strange nocturnal habits, and my constant feeling of coldness—for my skin had become clammy to the touch—distressed her and frightened her.

All the specialists we saw, all the doctors—and there were many—could find no physical reasons for my sickness, my daytime comas, my night-time alertness, my strange revulsion for the church. (A visit from our vicar, a kind and gentle mean, had driven me into a frenzy, my teeth clenched, spittle and foam drooling from my lips, and that unearthly keening sound issuing from my corded throat, and—so I am told—a look of utter terror upon my face.)

So, as time passed, I became more and more a recluse, haunted by strange dreams of night, where I would soar unaided through soft darkness to some predestined place where warmth and love and affection would be mine, where there would be people who understood my affliction, and who would consider only those not like ourselves as abnormal. And I eventually resigned myself to the fact that sooner or later my wife would consign me to a mental institution and that there I would go quickly mad.

And then tonight, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, probably with some surprise showing on my face. For it was late—my wife was already in bed.

He stood there in the darkness, the small yellow light throwing vertical, unearthly shadows down his long, pale face, and in an instant a small thrill of recognition scuttled through my mind, only to be instantly dismissed as a trick of the darkness, a way of standing, some coincidence.

Before I could speak, he said, in a voice so deep that I wondered whether he had really spoken or whether I had merely imagined his words:

“It has taken me a long time to find you.”

“Who are you?” I asked hesitantly, “and what do you want?”

“I want nothing but to see you, and to bring you truth,” he replied.

Logic rushed to overcome the chill these words struck into me. A religious quack, one of those door-to-door peddlers of instant salvation!

“Look, I’m sorry,” I told him, “I’m not well and I cannot stand.…”

“I know,” he said, and proceeded to describe to me every one of the many symptoms which had baffled all my doctors—and I have described, lest I bore you, but a few of the symptoms which had for so long cursed me.

“How do you know all this?” I managed to whisper.

“Because it was I who caused you to have them.”

I could hardly believe my ears. How could this man, standing upon my doorstep in the late evening, with cars passing occasionally up and down the lane, not only to know about my illness—and far more about it than any other than my personal physician had been told—but claim that he had caused it? I asked him as much.

He told me who he was and I think I laughed. His face did not change, however, and my laughter died stillborn.

He told me that the others were all gone, that his last victim had been cremated at death and that now he was alone, and knew that sooner or later he would be found and destroyed by the old and proven methods, and that he had suddenly struck upon a way to propagate his kind. And he had done it.

He told me how to went to the national Blood Transfusion Service and gave a pint of his blood. How he ascertained to which hospital the blood was sent, and how he had stealthily prowled the hospital night after night until he had discovered the names of all the patients who had been given blood transfusions.

He had visited every one of them until he found me, and giving seen me, he knew. He told me what I was and what I was becoming and he told me also that there was no hope, no cure; and I knew, as my heart died and my soul shrivelled that what he told me was the truth and that the books I had read for a cheap shudder, the films I had seen and laughed at as my fair Elizabeth clutched my hand in horror were no fiction but the truth, the evil, awful truth.

* * * *

He has just gone, although his haunted face seems still to hang in the silent space before my eyes…and now Elizabeth is standing at the head of the stairs in her nightdress, asking me who it was and what he wanted.

The light from the porch throws a faint light up the stairs, and her fair hair is tousled from sleep.

The slim column of her throat draws my eyes like a magnet and within me stirs a compulsion do intense, so awful, and so complete that I can only obey it.

I realize now that he is right, and only when all of them are like us will there be any escape from my terrors.

“Go to bed,” I tell my wife. “I’ll come up and kiss you goodnight.”

ASSASSIN, by Andrew Darlington

The wall is two thousand kilometres long, one kilometre high, and half a kilometre thick. But walls are no obstacle. He’d known of the walls of Babylon in ziggurat mudbrick tiers, the walls of Tiberian Rome guarded by the geese sacred to Juno, the aluminium walls of Mao-Citadel in Zhongguo fifth millennium. Yet in terms of permanence this wall is impressive, as if grown from the musculature of Earth beneath, an extrusion of basalt stratum, of ruptured millstone. With the flimsy city about its base as ephemeral as skin, to be sloughed off in flakes, its loss neither missed, nor affecting topography to the slightest degree.

Adsiduo Sicarius, the assassin, enters the city as night falls, thick streamers of veined cloud boiling above the abrupt horizon, spliced and subdivided by geometric columns of fading light. His skin, in the visor penumbra of his titanium helmet, is ebon, his jerkin of reflecting vinyl molded into thick ridges mimicking bone structure, a deliberate exoskeleton to exclude all attempted penetration. But despite the psychological armor it is difficult to staunch the tide of foul-smelling memories, cities of the Tigris, of the Ganges, of the Delaware, of the Seine, alike in their squalor. This city—a detritus of triple-layered hovels, lean-to’s and shanties interspersed with the stone-built holds of the merchant trader class—laps at the foot of the wall like the diseased tongue of minions.

The constant murmur of voices hangs in the air, pale-skinned people, vendors disseminating small containers of human flesh grown in vats fed on embryonic fluids, selling sinscmilla marijuana from Ukai on the world’s edge, selling mandalas and hexes from the sunken continent Merique, selling renewable virginities, or opium derivatives for astral projection. Beggars, dwarfs and mutants clawing from cages suspended from pantile roofs, or from grilles set into the runneled paving, grasping at legs or loose drapes of clothing in the names of charity, Zoroaster, Thai, Guatama, the Crize, or the fifteen mercies and 305 sub-mercies of penance. But Sicarius does not pause. He wears anonymity deliberately, like a cloak, an invisibility adopted by subtle nuances of slouch, posture, physical alignment, and fluidity of movement learned by experience.

He halts briefly, at the intersection of a central thruway where a laden chain of ox carts groans by. Have oxen always had six legs, or is this just a locally induced mutation to achieve greater strength? It’s difficult to recall. Heavily armed military escorts pace beside the sweating beasts. The assassin notes the age and range of projectile artillery, selecting potential modes of entering their armor, and the preferred weapons he’d use in case of armed encounter. As he does so, a leprous hand seizes his leg pleadingly. The assassin glances down, and crushes the beggar’s single limb with his heel.

He looks up. Twilight thickening, the shadow of the wall clinging to him like slime, like accusation, like guilt. Congealing into mere loss. Now the ox train has gone. He can see across the cart-tracks, and directly beneath the wall the decaying row of cubist buildings strung together with precisely angled struts disguising the equatorial bulge of settling architecture. His eyes spider first along the elaborate facade, then up one, two, three stories, across the steeply sloping slate roofs, to the now Erebus-black wall itself. A vacuity under the lesser darkness of sky, the first stars, and the pulsing amber beacons of a drifting dirigible.

He crosses the rutted thruway, fireflies forming hieroglyphs across buildings backing directly onto the wall, glow-worm lights twisting and transmuting into trade-names, or proclaiming attractions. ‘THE ANDROGYNE CATHOUSE’ flicks at his attention, between a plethora of ragged political posters. He approaches the egress, entering through a low multi-arched corridor. The globular room beyond, divided into stepped levels by thin perspex floors, is awash with repetitive atonal music. Roils of heady smoke are cast clinical blue by light coming tip from the floor. This is the place they’ve agreed. Sicarius needs to eat, to drink, and concentrate his energies, but first there are connections to be made. He paces uneasily round the circumference of the room ignored by its other occupants, some shrouded and masked orientals, others naked, but all earnestly furtive and intense.

At length the assassin crosses to an alcove formed by the protuberance of grotesquely erotic sculptures, and sits down across from three figures. After a pause of some seconds, the music, emanating sourcelessly from the empty core of the gallery, completes its complex phase and begins to destucture in preparation for its next cycle, and as though this is a signal, the man in the center slides his hand beneath the elaborate folds of his dark synthsilk robe. The assassin focuses on him, tracing the physiognomy, ghosted as it is by blue shadow. The forehead is unnaturally high, domed by fringed black hair elegantly beaded. The nose almost non-existent, yet double-helixed with small jewels drawing attention from the surrounding features which are smoothly planed—artificially so, eyes paling almost to white, inset correction lenses giving them a glazed glaucomatous appearance.

He produces a small holographic icon and nudges it across the table.

“You know this man?”

Sicarius recognises the idealized image moving within. “It is Vhed Varah. I know his face from the posters.” A diminutive man—one third of the city’s ruling Presidium. This is to be his target.

“The image in this holo is deliberately slanted, as though viewed from beneath, as if he is seen through the eye of an insect, don’t you think? The artist has done that to flatter Varah’s vanity, to compensate for his lack of stature,” he continues conversationally. “The artist was one of many commissioned. He was subsequently honored, and the icon widely distributed. The unsuccessful candidates were ruthlessly abacinated as a matter of course.”

The assassin absorbs detail which is already becoming blurred, merging with the thousand shifting faces of other victims—dictators, tyrants, libertarian benefactors, slaves, lovers and deposed pleading gods incarnate.

“My name’s Erason,” says the man tonelessly. “And Vhed Varah is an encumbrance. Our trade suffers.”

The assassin strains to recall the wedge-shaped cuneiform script on the posters. “I thought he claimed a policy of neutrality, non-alignment with either of the warring protagonists. Trade with both sides?”

“Is it important you should know our motivation?” A voice—female, but distorted by the white porcelain mask she wears, the atmosphere filters visible beneath its lower lip, and the vocal synthesizer set into her throat. An off-worlder? He’d heard stories of dimensional portals. But there are always stories. And then again, the human form is infinitely pliable, particularly in this wretched age. Sicarius himself—he smiles wryly—is more than proof of that.

“No, it’s not important. I merely ask.”

“Curiosity is less than a requirement. Indeed, it is a trait to be discouraged,” Erason snaps, impatient to bring the subject to an end.

“It matters not. But if you care to know, Varah’s policy is an entrenched, ruthlessly defended anti-interventionism, his ambitions as diminutive as his stature,” the words spat. “Freed from such dilettante posturing we would be able manipulate the war, engineer victory for whoever we choose to support. Free of Varah’s timidity we can assume real power.”

Sicarius conjures an image of the lumbering tripedal war machines involved in the continent-wide War of Holy Liberation five thousand K’s away. “You need offer no justification. My contracts are not dependent on moral considerations.”

Sicarius disconnects attention from the argument, their words igniting unbidden memories that are irritatingly incomplete. The wall is old. But there had been a time before it had been constructed when the plain from which it grows had been crossed only by the drifting dirigibles of mercantile trade en route for the New Soviets of the West or the Hives of the South, or the caravanserai of missionaries bearing the claims of one transient messiah or another. A plain where vast dust clouds ebb in meteorological turbulences, eroding surreal formations of granite into the contours of fractured skulls and frozen limbs, a place inhabited by a few world-evading aesthetes squatting in cave complexes beside watering holes. The wall had come later.

West or the Hives of the South, or the caravanserai of missionaries bearing the claims of one transient messiah or another. A plain where vast dust clouds ebb in meteorological turbulences, eroding surreal formations of granite into the contours of fractured skulls and frozen limbs, a place inhabited by a few world-evading aesthetes squatting in cave complexes beside watering holes. The wall had come later.

“Vhed Varah shelters behind the wall?” he says suddenly.

“No. Inside the wall. Never emerges. He’s impossible to reach.”

“I can reach him.” The assassin signifies the end of the transaction by standing and approaching an induction register. Once a room has been reserved for him he finalizes price and ‘identification procedures’ with his new employers, and retreats to the upper floors of the Cathouse. The establishment’s androgynous whores are individually structured through genetic implantation to suit diverse tastes.

As she services him he considers symmetries. Whore and assassin. The impulse to life and the impulse to destroy life. The passage of millennia changes little, the two professions inextricably linked.

The room is small. A gable window opens out onto the lichen-pitted roofscape. As the whore sleeps, he dresses, then prizes open the window and climbs easily onto the precarious slates.

Wind howls around him, a subliminal susurration constant since the eruption of the wall, a monument to protect what lies beneath its vast foundations. The city is silent. He slithers down to the roof lip, bare metres from the obsidian blackness of the wall, its surface melted into a smooth glaze sucking all into it and giving back nothing. It had been fused by the intense heat of the holocaust wars which, two thousand years before, had left the plain a wasteland, and had simultaneously uncovered the secret the wall had been constructed to keep, leading to the first discovery of the substance named for Pluto sunk deep into the substratum of the Earth. It was then that the prospectors had clustered like ants, their footprints widening into broad highways of creaking laden wagons feeding new military technologies five thousand K’s away. Creating this city of hideous genetic mutations.

But the wall is not solid. Washed by the incandescent heat of nuclear suns its skin had rippled, boiling like liquid, developing capillaries and smooth interconnecting bubble chambers that solidified gradually into an igneous network covering large areas of the monolithic barrier. A maze mapped and colonized as the most impregnable of fortresses, access points concealed and jealously guarded. The assassin allows himself a week to prepare his assault, piecing together and comparing fragments of information, checking over the equipment of his ancient trade, exercising physically and spiritually for die oncoming ordeal.

About a fifth of the way from the base of the wall to its crest is a small aperture, a chimney of rock set into featureless glaze. As the sun sets Adsiduo Sicarius begins to scale the wall, sheltered by the shrouding darkness of the Cathouse. From beyond the plain, from a technology over two thousand years dead, he’d brought a small laser transducer with which he laboriously cuts a series of small ascending recesses. Once the epidermis glaze is thus penetrated it is possible to sink stressed steel pegs into the less dense material beneath, connecting the pitons with thick hawsers, then retrieving both pegs and rope as he climbs.

The method is slow and backbreaking but Sicarius moves methodically through the long night, with exactly spaced rest periods during which he secures himself firmly to the face, and self-induces a hypnotically relaxing trance. By sunrise he’s reached a sufficiently lofty elevation that his presence passes unnoticed in the bustling city below him. Then, with the last of the fading light, it is possible to obtain a visual fix on the aperture, and work more swiftly towards his objective, shrugging off the deliberately low-key dogmatism he’d assumed to make the climb tolerable, to dampen fear, assuage die pain and vertigo.

Then he was reeling in the hawser for the last time, reaching the lip of the chimney, and hauling himself into its waiting darkness. The capillary slants steeply upwards, but is narrow enough for the assassin to brace himself across its restriction and gradually work upwards. There is artificial light beyond, and he slows, crawling forward as die chimney narrows. A grille separates him from an elaborately decorated corridor, the tunnel obviously serving as a ventilation duct or sluice for the disposal of waste materials.

The grille could be wired. Nothing visible. But he coats it with a blast blister, neutralizing any potential active fields within. Then, using the laser, Sicarius severs his way through the grille, angling his cuts in such a manner that he’s able to lift the center section, hang for a moment, then swing precisely up, dropping gently to the fused-ceramic tiles inside. He crouches, watching, breathing, listening, sensing. Cameras, tripping-traps, sneak-beams, bug-rays? No. A gallery. Long and shadowy. He turns to replace the grille, leaving little detectable trace of interference.

Further. Little more than several paces and he’s brought up sharp. Something indefinable. A sensor-grid. Little more than a haze of particles. A faint ionization of the air, invisible to most. But he detects it. He traces its limits. They’ve been lax There’s at least a metre of clear space between its highest point and the upper arch of the ceiling. More than enough. He retrieves the pitons and hawser from the ventilation duct. For a moment, once on the far side of the grid, he relaxes his tensed muscles, allowing the seep of feelings to scream back beneath his self-discipline, allowing random sensations to flood him, the staleness of richly perfumed air, the dazzling color of wall frescoes covered with opulent tapestries to disguise their ‘volcanic’ origins, the nauseous backwash of vertigo. Such direct tactile impressions can be useful if correctly utilized and logically filtered.

At last he re-applies mental control, and lopes soundlessly towards the interior, attempting to superimpose the remembered map-fragments onto what he sees around him. At seemingly irregular points the ducts converge into spacious galleries, smooth, featureless chambers and long white ceramic galleries that lie at the center of new radiations of corridors. Whispers of sound come closer. Whispers magnified by tricks of acoustics. He hears a disembodied wash of voices, and stiffens, but the voices fade, and he resumes. Then he waits, pressing himself into the wall ornamentation as two women pass along the concourse.

They are deep in intimate conversation, talking animatedly in some gutturally obscure Asiatic dialect. Yet he recognizes their language. They are discussing a missing child, and they continue to do so until they are out of his hearing. Security is almost boringly lax. It will be concentrated lower, at the more obvious ground level access points. Or in the upper levels, in case of aerial assault. But here, deep within the wall, they are complacent in their supposed invulnerability.

Soon it becomes apparent that despite their seeming randomness the corridors are regular, geometrically structured, and he’s able to slot their apparent vagaries into an understandable system, working his way towards the hub of the network.

Eventually Sicarius finds himself confronting the great double doors heading to the inner labyrinth of Vhed Varah, admission barred by a single guard, armored in the fashion he’d witnessed in the city. Military discipline has lapsed, no attack expected in this most impregnable of fortresses.

The assassin draws a long slender needle from his belt, approaches the lounging soldier from the rear, and with ice-cold accuracy inserts the point between overlapping plates of steel at the man’s neck. He jerks the needle with practiced ease upwards at a calculated angle, taking it into the underlayers of the brain, killing the man instantly.

Leaving the corpse, Sicarius slides through the doors. Warmly peach-tinted light spills from the vestibule beyond. The newly glimpsed grotto is partitioned off into many separate sumptuous apartments decked out with the decadent luxury of conspicuous wealth. There are sleeping figures, male, female, and hermaphrodite, who ignore him as he purposefully makes his way towards his quarry.

Vhed Varah, a squat but ridiculously corpulent man, wakes and starts up from his coverlets as the assassin enters the small enclosure. He can sense the intruder’s mission—almost expecting it.

“You’ve come to…?” he squeals in terror, but his expression of horror freezes, the scream of panic dying in his throat as the laser punctures a neat hole through the center of his forehead, its heat cauterizing the wound even as it is made. The whites of his eyes flutter momentarily like moths trapped in their sockets. Then nothing.

Sicarius lowers the weapon. The heady scented air now ionized and vibrantly charged by the needle-beams of energy, redolent of the imagined smell of adrenaline, and fear. There is no pleasure in death, just acceptance. For all men must die, even as they must breathe. He smiles at the thought.

Sicarius waits for long moments, preparing himself psychologically for what is to come. For what has happened times without number. Vhed Varah lies half-naked across plush eiderdowns, the pale light catching and silvering the glisten of sweat along rolls of fat and near-black body hair. There is no blood. The murdered politician’s eyes are lifelessly fixed on the partitioning tapestries of heavy weave.

An ugly and disgusting death. A contract fulfilled. The impulse to life. The impulse to destroy life.

Now there is sound beyond the small enclosure of artificial intimacy, the raster of fear punctuated by raised strident voices, the thump of heels. And the assassin’s patience is eventually rewarded as the drapes are wrenched brutally aside and three masked soldiers break in. He spins to face them. They wear easily penetrable armor, his eyes professionally noting points of vulnerability. The first of the guards carries a trident. Calmly, the assassin thumbs the laser grid to minimum, raises the weapon to waist level and depresses the stud, hitting the forearm through its defensive plating, scorching the flesh. The soldier yells and lunges forward, a purely instinctive reaction. The center prong lodges in the assassin’s eye cavity, its tip on its way to the brain.

Suddenly, the soldier is bracing the haft of the trident, aware of the solidity of impact on the interior of the other man’s splintering skull, the murdering intruder coiling down to sprawl at his feet, the closely scrutinized vinyl jerkin now unmoving. Only gradually does he become painfully conscious of the laser burn on his forearm where the muted beam has melded his armor, blistering skin. He can feel the curdling sickness at the base of his stomach. He lurches, the second soldier moving forward to support him, speaking reassuringly.

* * * *

A month later, Erason slouches across the low couch in his private room to the rear of the ‘ANDROGYNE CATHOUSE’. He rubs his slightly lacquered hand down the side of his face, feeling the perfect smoothness of his depilated skin. Smiling falsely at the soldier, he sucks in a breath and lets it out raggedly. “You have business with me?”

“The encumbrance has been removed,” says the man, palming his perspex mask clear, the upward movement revealing a plassealed forearn. “Trade need no longer suffer.”

Erason stands slowly. “I don’t quite understand fully.”

“Understanding was never part of the agreement. Vhed Varah is dead. I’ve satisfied the accepted identification procedures, and now request only that your commitment for payment be fulfilled.”

Erason can feel his neck muscles tightening involuntarily as he looks at the stranger. “Yes. You’re right. Of course you are. I was merely curious. The trade of assassin is one carrying a certain ancient mystique. The reek of lost sciences, perhaps even shape-shifting? Presumably you got out of the fortress due to your…ability?”

The other man relaxes visibly, and nods.

“And you intend leaving the city? It would be unhealthy, from my point of view, for you to remain.”

Again the soldier nods, glancing about the room with no particular focus of interest. Intent only on escape.

“Then I’ll detain you no further.” Erason reaches down to hoist twin panniers onto the couch that stands between them. “Reward for your services, as we agreed.” He loosens the clamp on the brocade leatherwork of the uppermost pouch.

“Here, for your inspection.” He inserts his hand beneath the flap, and withdraws it clamped around a projectile pistol.

The man’s eyes fix on the weapon even as the trigger goes in, the dart catching him soundlessly in the throat.

“I’m sorry,” begins Erason. “Truly I am sorry, but it would be unsafe.…” His eyes widen, almost white, the correction lenses clouding them into colorlessness. Then he screams, drops the pistol, his hands clawing upwards at his hairless temples, long nails drawing blood. The room seems to fragment, small, juxtaposed sounds vorticing in from the void beyond. An aimless jumble of perceptions, slowly and painfully reorienting. Understanding comes at him tangentially as he watches the soldier/assassin die, and feels the correspondingly vampiric growth in his own head. A slithering insinuating evil, a blood-red darkness as old as time, undying, eternal, gradually possessing him. Drowning him, as he sinks relentlessly beneath tides of alienness.

The scream ceases. He listens to it dissolve in the low currents of air. There is no more pain. Erason is gone. Sicarius rubs his hands together self-consciously, then passes the palm of his right hand experimentally over his unnaturally high forehead, brushing the fringe of black beaded hair. He bends down to retrieve the projectile pistol, replacing it precisely in the uppermost pouch of the panniers. Then he moves towards the door, carrying the bags, raising the hem of his dark synthsilk robe to step over the soldier’s corpse. The body that, briefly, he had occupied.

Erason/Sicarius closes the door behind him, the noise of the Cathouse shifting, the globular room with its atonal music to his left. But instead he paces evenly down the low arched corridor and out into the blinding daylight of the thruway.

A carriage waits. Erason is important. He doesn’t walk the city street. As he climbs into the carriage, its upholstery settling, he chances a covetous glance at the kilometre-high wall rising monolithically above the sloping roofs of the squat cubist buildings. An instinctive reaction, a gut-wrenching vertigo, makes him clench his fists, the lacquered nails impaling the soft skin of his palms, drawing small half-moons of blood as he recalls every centimetre of the nightmare climb up the wall’s relentlessly vertical face.

Then the eternal assassin relaxes.

The treachery had been unexpected. He’d been taken unawares. But luckily the projectile pistol used against him caused a lingering death. Time enough for an induced transmigration of souls, the assassin’s ultimate, and most perfectly crafted weapon. Sicarius smiles. He’ll enjoy being Erason.

At least for a while.

PRISONER OF TIME, by John Russell Fearn

CHAPTER ONE: AVENGING ENTROPY

The game of bridge had been a long one—and for one member of the company at least a boring one. But now it was over. Two men stood in the cool of the summer evening thankful for escape from the warmth of the lounge. They smoked silently and disregarded each other until one of them spoke.

“Been a long evening,” Reggie Denby said, rather haltingly. “Cards bore me—bridge especially so. Too much demand on the mind.”

“Yes,” the other said, noncommittally.

“Been worth it, though,” Reggie added. “I’d sit through a thousand hands of bridge just to be near Lucy. S’pose you would, too?”

“One has to make concessions, even for Lucy.”

Silence again and more smoking. The house at the back of the two men was not a big one but it was ablaze with light and the sound of voices. Nor was the garden in which they stood large. It was just one of those well-kept suburban patches shielded from the vulgar gaze by a high wooden fence upon which sprawled rambler roses.

The situation that existed now for the two men was not unique. They were waiting for Lucy Grantham to come out and reveal upon which of them she had decided. For months now each young man had ardently pressed his suit—Reggie Denby with the fervor of genuine love, and Bryce Fairfield, with the laconic brevity of a scientist. Bryce believed in himself and his capabilities as an electronic scientist: Reggie, having no such brilliance and existing merely as a none-too-bright salesman made up for the deficiency by being generous-natured towards everybody. Two men utterly apart in ideals and outlook, yet both centered on one young woman.

Then presently, Lucy Grantham came hurrying out to them. She was slim, in the early twenties, chestnut-haired and starry-eyed, at that time of her life when any young man would have been willing to confer his eternal devotion upon her.

“Sorry boys to put you through it with that bridge game,” she apologized, laughing, as she came up. “But you know what dad is! Insists that bridge is the way to make friends.”

“Or enemies,” Bryce Fairfield murmured.

Lucy fell silent, studying each man in the reflected light from the house. There was Reggie—chubby, fair-haired, genial to the point of idiocy, his blue eyes fixed adoringly upon her; and then there was Bryce Fairfield, lean-jawed, sunken-eyed, with untidy hair sprawling across his broad forehead. He was unusually tall and always stooped. His flinty gray eyes analyzed everything upon which he gazed—even Lucy. Very rarely did he smile and certainly his associates had never heard him laugh.

“This, I suppose, is the hour of decision?” Lucy asked solemnly, fastening her hands behind her like a mischievous schoolgirl.

“If you wish to make it sound melodramatic, yes,” Bryce agreed. “Frankly, m’dear, I don’t see the reason for all these preliminaries—to say nothing of an evening wasted playing that damnable bridge. I could have spent my time to much more advantage down at the physics laboratory.”

“Oh, you and your chemistry—or whatever it is!” Lucy made a gesture. “You keep your nose too close to the grindstone, Bryce. Anyway, you both asked for a definite answer, didn’t you?”

“It didn’t have to be a personal one,” Bryce replied. “The mails are still functioning.”

Lucy looked astonished. “Bryce, do you actually mean that my answer is of so little consequence it could have been sent through the post?”

“Your answer,” Bryce responded, “means everything in the world to me, Lucy—but you know the kind of man I am. I cannot bear to waste time—playing bridge for instance.”

“Not even if it keeps you near me?”

Bryce was silent, his big, powerful mouth oddly twisted. Then the girl moved her gaze from him across to Reggie. “Reggie.…”

“Yes, Lucy?” He moved with alacrity. “Anything I can do for you?”

“I’ll have plenty of time to tell you that later.” Lucy hesitated as Reggie absorbed the significance of what she was saying; then she turned to Bryce. “Bryce, you do understand, don’t you?” she asked earnestly. “I think, now I’ve come to ponder it over, that there never was anybody else but Reggie.”

“From your attitude at times I hardly formed the same opinion,” Bryce answered. “However, you’ve made the matter perfectly clear. You prefer Reggie— Very well then. I am not the kind of man to argue over a fact. No scientist ever does. All I can do is offer my sincere congratulations to both of you.”

He caught at Lucy’s hand and shook it firmly, so much so that she nearly winced. Then Reggie grinned dazedly as he found his own arm being pumped up and down vigorously.

“You—you know, I can’t half believe it, Bryce! I never thought I stood a chance. You’re so different to me—the masterful type. I thought that would impress Lucy quite a lot.”

“To every girl her choice,” Bryce said, shrugging; then in a suddenly more genial tone: “I hope this is not going to interfere with our friendship, Lucy? I’d like to keep in touch, chiefly because I know so few women who’ll take the trouble to be interested in me.”

“Why, of course!” Lucy laughed and patted his thin, muscular arms. “You’ll always be welcome, Bryce—always. What kind of a girl do you think I am?”

Bryce did not answer that. Instead he looked at her in a way she could not quite understand, his relentless gray eyes probing her. Vaguely she wondered what he was trying to analyze about her. He made no comment, however, and presently relaxed.

“Well, it’s been an interesting evening, even if a disappointing one for me,” he commented. “I don’t see much point in staying any longer, Lucy. I’ll go home I think and drown my sorrows in drink!”

“In physics more likely,” Lucy smiled. “By tomorrow, Bryce, you’ll have forgotten all about asking me to marry you. You’re that kind of a fellow.”

“Mebbe,” he said, musing—but Lucy would probably have thought differently had she seen his expression when he arrived at his bachelor flat towards eleven that night. It was hard, the mouth drawn down at the corners, a light of vindictive cunning in the rapier eyes.

Without giving any heed to the necessity for sleep Bryce threw off his jacket, slipped on a dressing gown, and then made himself some coffee. Fifteen minutes after arriving in his flat he was in a deep armchair, black coffee at his side, and a stack of books within easy reach. Each book was an abstruse scientific treatise, but each treatise made sense to a mind like Bryce Fairfield’s. His genius in matters scientific was far beyond the average. He would not have been staff-supervisor for the Electronics Bureau had it not been.

Chiefly, to judge from the notes he made and the books he studied, his interest seemed to lie in entropy and its effects. Not to any man did he breathe a word of his private investigations into science’s more mystical realms. To the staff at the Bureau—and also to Lucy and Reggie on those occasions when he joined them for an evening—he was still just taciturn Bryce Fairfield, making the best of having lost the girl he wanted.

* * * *

For two years after their marriage Bryce remained an apparently firm friend of Lucy and Reggie, even to the extent of becoming godfather to their son Robert. In fact, it was surprising how much interest Bryce took in the family and their habits. In his brusque, matter-of-fact way he managed to find out everything they were doing, and knew of their plans for the future. Not that Lucy or Reggie minded. Bryce seemed to have become part of the family and he never once stepped beyond the hounds of friendship.

And, in the two years, his own fortunes seemed to take a decided turn for the better. From somewhere unknown he accumulated a vast amount of money, most of which he seemed to spend on scientific materials. He threw out vague hints concerning a machine he was building—and that was all. Then, one evening in the late summer, nearly two-and-a-half years after Lucy and Reggie had married matters swept up to a sudden and most unexpected climax.

The first sign came in an urgent phone-call to Lucy as she sat at home waiting for Reggie to return from a business trip down south. Immediately she went to the instrument in the hall and picked it up.

“Hello? Mrs. Denby speaking.”

“This is Bryce, Lucy. I’m speaking from a call-box near Little Oldfield. In case you don’t know where it is it’s some two miles outside Penarton where Reggie went on business today.”

“Oh?” Lucy was clearly mystified. “But—but what—”

“I’m on my vacation at present,” Bryce hurried on. “You remember me telling you it was about due? I’m taking it in the form of a walking tour. This morning, as I was on the tramp down south, who should pass me in his car but Reggie! Naturally I got in with him and most of the day I’ve stayed beside him, except when he’s made his business calls. There’s been a nasty accident,” Bryce continued. “We ran into a telegraph pole through a fault in the car’s steering-column. Reggie’s pretty badly knocked about, though it’s nothing serious. He’s in the Little Oldfield Hospital down here. I sent for an ambulance and that’s where they took him. I thought you ought to know right away.”

“You’re sure he isn’t badly hurt?” Lucy asked, her voice revealing her deep anxiety.

“Convinced of it. Best thing you can do is come down and see him for yourself—”

“I could ring up the hospital and.…”

“That wouldn’t help you to speak to him, though, would it? Never mind ringing up: just get down to Little Oldfield as fast as you can. By that time I’ll have hired a car from the local garage with which to meet you. It won’t take you more than an hour to get here. You take a Penarton train—they’re pretty regular—with a connection for Little Oldfield. How’s that?”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll start off right away. And thanks so much for helping me, Bryce.”

“That’s all right. See you later.”

The line went dead. Lucy stood frowning, disturbed by the queer premonition that something was not ‘quite right’ somewhere. And yet— Finally she turned to the directory, found the number of the Little Oldfield Hospital, and rang them up. There was apparently no mistake. Reginald Denby had been admitted that afternoon, suffering from abrasions and severe shock and his condition was unchanged.

Lucy wasted no more time. She set off for the station, leaving her mother in charge of little Robert, and as the evening was beginning to lower into darkness she found herself alighting at Little Oldfield Station, which was like an oasis on the edge of nowhere.

Outside the station Bryce Fairfield’s tall, bony figure was visible, stalking around impatiently—then the moment the girl emerged from the station he came hurrying towards her, his lank hair disturbed by the restless wind.

“Good!” he exclaimed, putting a protective arm about her shoulders. “You made it in good time, Lucy. Won’t take me long to whisk you down to the hospital.”

“I hope he’s no worse.” Lucy found herself propelled towards an obviously borrowed car. “I rang up the hospital and they said there was no change.”

“He’ll be all right,” Bryce assured her, settling down at the steering wheel. “Nasty accident, but not serious. I wish to heaven it had happened nearer home and I could have had my own car at your disposal. This infernal thing came out of the Flood, I should think.”

Wheezing and protesting, it finally started up and Bryce drove it out of the station-approach onto a graveled road leading between dusty summer beeches. Lucy looked around her and frowned a little. The region seemed incredibly lonely and out of touch with the world.

“Terribly deserted spot, isn’t it?” she asked, hardly able to suppress a little shiver. “I just don’t know this part at all. Where exactly are we?”

“About fifteen miles from the south coast. We’re in a region of old copper mines apparently: you can see the hills that have been created in boring them. Beyond those lies Little Oldfield itself. Won’t take us long.”

Lucy became silent, again obsessed with that queer conviction that something was not ‘quite right’. Bryce’s expression certainly gave nothing away. His lean, saturnine face was without emotion as he drove the ancient car at its fastest, the summer wind setting the back hood flapping in dilapidated disorder in the rear.

It was not long before Bryce deserted the main road entirely and sent the car bumping and bounding along a rutted track, obviously long disused, leading between the somber hills of excavated earth from the mines.

“Bryce, are you sure you’re going the right way?” Lucy turned to him in wonder after a while. “There doesn’t seem to be anything ahead but these copper mines—or what’s left of them. If this is a short-cut.…”

“I know what I’m doing!” he snapped, and drove on.

Lucy gave him another look of surprise, deepening to a growing fear. Then suddenly he pulled up sharply and pointed to a notice board. “See that?” he demanded, and grinned harshly.

Lucy looked, but the board’s inscription did not make sense to her. It said:

FAIRFIELD COPPER PROJECT—KEEP OUT

Then, through her confusion, a light dawned.

“Oh, you mean this land belongs to you?”

“All of it!”

“And that’s why you’re using it as a short cut? It could not have happened better. Maybe we can get to the hospital all the quicker.”

“We’re not going to the hospital, Lucy! Get out of the car!”

Lucy stared. Bryce repeated his command, with such fiendish determination that the girl did not dare hesitate any further. Bryce scrambled out after her and slammed the car door; then when he turned again Lucy noticed that he had an automatic in his hand.

“Just in case you get any funny ideas,” he explained. “Now start walking and do just as I tell you—”

“Bryce, for heaven’s sake! What’s come over you? What about Reggie—?”

“Be damned to Reggie! Carry on!”

Stumbling, terror-stricken, Lucy kept on going, satisfied now that her premonition of something peculiar had been justified. Not that it did her any good now: she was, she felt, at the mercy of a madman.

“Turn left!” Bryce commanded suddenly. She did so, finding herself following a hardly visible track, which led to the top of a mineshaft. Here a cage was standing as if in readiness. Was all this prepared then—she wondered? Evidently so, for she was roughly bundled into the cage and Bryce came and stood beside her. He had equipped the cage with some kind of electric device—not a difficult feat for a man of his scientific knowledge—the flick of a switch setting the mechanism in action and plunging the cage into the depths of the long, disused shaft.

By this time Lucy’s heart was pounding. Everywhere was pitch-darkness and she could hear the harsh, tense breathing of Bryce close beside her. His bony fingers gripped her arm so tightly she half cried out, then she was shoved forward brutally. The hand left her. There was a snap and light came up, filling a long tunnel with a dim glow. Along this Bryce forced her and at last into a well-lighted natural cavern.

Lucy came to a standstill, panting, her wide eyes looking around her. She paid no more attention to the steadily leveled gun in Bryce’s hand. In every part of the cavern there seemed to loom scientific apparatus, none of it making sense to Lucy’s completely unscientific mind.

“You needn’t worry about Reggie,” Bryce said dryly, putting his gun away. “They’ll patch him up and turn him out when they’re sick of him. Naturally, m’dear, the whole thing was deliberately arranged. I’d timed it in such a way that that accident should have killed Reggie—only it didn’t work out. Never mind; I’ll correct the error later.”

“You’ll—you’ll what?” Lucy whispered in horror; then without waiting for an answer she hurried on: “Where are we? What is this place? Does it belong to you?”

“Every bit of it, and all the land around it. First I made gold by synthesis of elements; then I sold it and made a fortune. I can have anything in the world I want—except you. And that’s the part I don’t like. I could have you, of course, but against your will. I don’t want it that way. What I cannot forget is that you played around with my affections once, then kicked me out in favor of that idiot of a salesman! I’ve never forgotten that. I’ve schemed and plotted for this moment. I kept in touch with your movements. I knew I’d meet Reggie today because I knew just where he was going. I planned the accident that should have killed him and left me unhurt. I pushed him in the Little Oldfield Hospital in case you rang them up—”

“I did!” Lucy’s eyes were bright with anger now.

“I guessed you might. But now you’re here, m’dear, and you’re going to be here a tremendously long time. So you turned me down in favor of Reggie Denby, did you?”

“I married Reggie because I really loved him, Bryce! I never could love you. You’re too clever, too cold-blooded, too scientific—”

“I am going to show you, Lucy, what it means to turn me down,” Bryce interrupted deliberately. “I made up my mind to do it on the night you chose Reggie.”

Lucy stared at him now with horror in her eyes, panic. She no longer had the courage to be angry. “Bryce, you’re mad!” she whispered.

“Perhaps I am—mad with jealousy.” He gave a shrug “All I know is that if I can’t have you then neither can Reggie have you any longer. You didn’t like my science, you say? You will like it even less by the time I’ve finished with you!”

Suddenly he reached forward, clutched Lucy’s arm, and sent her stumbling through a distant opening in the cavern into yet another lighted area. Lucy found herself again confronted by scientific machinery that she could not possibly understand. Fear, devastating enough to make her faint, surged over her as Bryce followed her in and locked the metal door behind him. Then he stood with his back to it, a ghastly smile on his lean face. “This is one time, m’dear, when you’ll listen to science and listen well,” he said slowly. “Take a look about you, at these tubes, these magnets, that table with the straps fastened to it.”

Lucy stared at the objects indicated as if mesmerized. Then she suddenly found her tongue again.

“Bryce you’ve got to let me out of here!” Her voice was a hoarse scream. “You daren’t do anything to me! You daren’t! Reggie will find you and—”

“Reggie!” Bryce sneered. “That moon-faced dolt? What do you imagine he could do to me? I’m one of the great scientists of this or any other age. No, m’dear, he’ll do nothing. What is more, when I’ve finished with you I’ll deal with him. Yes, him—and that squealing little brat to whom I was made godfather! I’ll utterly destroy all three of you!”

As the girl stared at him hopelessly he continued: “You have only yourself to blame, Lucy. You could have had me and all the power and wealth science can bring. You chose differently, and for that I have decided there must be a price.”

“Who are you to decide my life?” Lucy demanded frantically. Flinging herself forward she drove her small fists fiercely into Bryce’s granite-like face, but he did not budge by a fraction. Finally he threw her away from him.

“Mad!” she repeated. “Always an egomaniac, and now it has completely overwhelmed you! You’re insane, Bryce! Insane!”

He remained motionless for a moment. Then he strode forward, gripped the girl in his powerful hands, and dumped her full-length on the steel table against which she had fallen. Before she realized what was happening the straps upon it were being buckled into place, across her neck, waist and ankles.

“Bryce, what are you going to do?” She could hardly get out the words.

“Plenty!” He surveyed her pinioned form and smiled coldly. “But first I have one or two things to tell you, things connected with the science you so obviously detest! You are going on a long journey, m’dear—a journey so long, indeed, that even I, a scientist, do not know where it will end. A journey into the future—alone!”

“What!” Lucy wriggled desperately in the straps, relaxed again, then breathed stormily. Her eyes fixed themselves on Bryce’s merciless features.

“You, Lucy, are going to be the victim of entropy,” he explained. “Naturally, you don’t know what entropy is, do you?”

“You know I don’t!” she shrieked. “Let me go!”

“Entropy,” Bryce stated calmly, as though delivering a lecture, “is the increasing disorder of the universe, the process by which the universe gradually moves to what is termed thermodynamic equilibrium. It can be likened to a perpetual shuffling, the disorder getting worse after each shuffle. Just like a pack of cards when we used to play that infernal game of bridge!”

“Bryce, for God’s sake—”

“If only you had read Eddington whilst at school you might have learned something about entropy,” Bryce sighed. “However, I’ve made it as clear as I can. Recently—” his tone changed to grim menace— “I fell to wondering what would happen if I created a non-entropy state, wherein nothing ever happens! So I decided to create a specified area—in this cavern to be precise—wherein molecular shuffling would achieve sudden and absolute equilibrium, a space wherein the ultimate of entropy would be reached instantly, instead of in a thousand, a million, ten million years’ time. Do you understand that?”

Lucy was beyond answering.

“Yes!” he said, his voice harsh with triumph. “I discovered how to create an entropy globe—a globe of force, the walls of which will attain absolute equilibrium, whose vibrations will extend inwards to everything inside the globe. Therefore, whatever is in the globe will be plunged into a state of non-time. Entropy will be halted! Progress will stop!”

“You,” Bryce continued deliberately, “will be inside that globe, Lucy! At your feet is one magnet; at your head another. Between them they will build up the hemisphere of the entropy globe, and within it time for you will cease to be. You will be plunged into an eternal ‘now’ from which release may never come. If it does it will be at a far distant time when scientists as clever as I find the way to unlock your prison.”

“Bryce, I beg of you!” Lucy implored huskily. “Let me go! I’ll do anything you want. Anything! I’ll divorce Reggie. You can’t do this to me! I’ve so much to live for! My baby and his future! You can’t do it!”

“On the wall there,” Bryce said, as though he had not even heard her, “is a calendar, placed I hope so that you can see it. See the date? Seventeenth of August, two thousand and nine. Remember that well!”

“Bryce, you cannot—”

He flung a switch, keeping clear of the steel table as he did so. Immediately an impalpable bubble of unknown forces—clearer than glass—enclosed the girl completely, swallowing up the steel table on which she lay. She was stopped in mid-motion of raising her head, her last sentence truncated.

Bryce waited for a moment or two, his brooding eyes on the many meters; then he turned and moved slowly towards the girl, contemplating her.

Her lips were slightly parted: her eyes stared at him quite unseeingly, eyes that were froze and yet somehow alive.

His gaze went up and down her slim form in the light overcoat, which had fallen apart to reveal the brown silk dress beneath. Then he looked at the steel table, the four leather binding straps, and lastly the beechwood cradle supporting her shoulders.

Bryce smiled. Time, he knew, was no more inside that globe. Entropy was halted by reason of the globe’s walls themselves having already achieved the ultimate of shuffling in their constitution.

“A year—fifty years—fifty centuries,” Bryce murmured half aloud. “Maybe for eternity.”

Then he turned back to the switchboard and examined the maze of instruments minutely. He waited perhaps half-an-hour and then cut the power out of the magnets at either end of the girl. A low, exultant sigh escaped him as he saw that the globe remained where it was, self-sustained, eternally balanced, a small foretaste of what the universe itself must one day become.

“If there is a key to open it—a random element to restore the shuffling—I do not know of it, nor do I want it! None shall unlock the prison!”

He nodded to himself, then pulling out a plunger he waited a moment and stepped back. In a sudden blaze of light and explosion the entire switchboard blew itself to atoms, tearing out part of the wall with it.

Bryce turned to the massive door of the cavern, took one last look at the motionless girl in the motionless globe. Then he closed the door upon her and locked it. With the face of a dead man he went silently through the adjoining cavern and into the tunnel that led to the surface.

“Reggie and the brat,” he murmured, “They must be taken care of too—”

The thought was dashed from his mind as there suddenly came a vast ominous rumbling. He looked up with a start, flashing the beam of his torch. He was in time to see the tunnel roof fissuring along its whole length. In a flash he realized what had occurred, remembering the crack in the cavern wall, which had followed the wrecking of the switchboard. The underground workings had been savagely shaken, and now— The truth had no sooner flashed across his mind than he saw a vast mass of rubble and stone hurtling down towards him.

CHAPTER TWO: TIME BARRIER

The Master was deliberating. He sat in his office at the top of a building towering to two thousand feet—a lonely being with the entire Western world beneath him. His was the guiding brain, his the responsibility for the continued progress of western civilization. The people had voted him into his position, and his father before him. He knew only the duty and the inflexible adherence to laws made by his predecessors.

In appearance he was only slight. Like all his fellows he was deeply tanned. His movements were deliberate and every gesture had finality about it. His thin, high-cheek-boned face was without expression because he had been schooled in keeping his emotions in rigid check. In becoming more refined he had also become less human.

Presently the Master pressed a button amongst the multitude on his desk. Then he sat back to wait, the papers relevant to his next interview neatly arranged on the desk before him. A door with the warm gleam of copper about it opened and shut and a lithe, well-built man, scrupulously dressed and aged about forty, came forward with active strides.

“Good morning, Mister Hurst,” the Master greeted. “Please be seated.”

“Master.…” Leslie Hurst gave a slight bow of acknowledgement and then settled in the chair at the opposite side of the Master’s desk.

“I have here your dossier on the Eastern crisis,” the Master continued, motioning languidly to the papers. “You apparently believe a good deal of trouble is brewing in that hemisphere?”

“I am convinced of it, Master—so much so I felt that, in my capacity as ambassador to the East, I should deliver that dossier to you personally and not risk the possibility of agents getting at it.”

“Very commendable, Mister Hurst. And what exactly is the Eastern position?”

“The same old trouble of concessions,” Hurst replied bitterly. “Lan Ilof, President of the Eastern Government, is still insisting that half of Mars should belong to them and the other half to us. It’s sheer bluff, of course, since we were the first to set up a base on Mars, and claim the entire planet for its value in mineral resources. Ilof claims that at a date before we arrived, their own expedition had already been there. He has supplied photographic proof to me, but I don’t believe any of it. The whole thing boils down to him wanting half of Mars so that he can replenish certain mineral stocks of which the East is short.”

“And if he does not get this concession from us he threatens war?”

“Yes.” Leslie Hurst was silent for a moment or two, his young but powerful face troubled. “And I think he could give us a run for our money too,” he added.

“How so?” There was an undisturbed calm upon the face of the Master that belied his quick-thinking brain.

“I happen to know that he has been building up formidable stocks of weapons and missiles with atomic warheads. Our agents have given me the facts. I don’t think I would be exaggerating if I said his intercontinental missiles outnumber ours by nearly three to one. There are also many secret armaments. The scientists have never been deficient of scientific ingenuity as you know.”

“President Ilof has never seemed to me the kind of man who would favor war as a means of gaining his end,” the Master mused. “I have met him several times, and I found him most cordial, and highly intelligent.”

“No doubt of it,” Hurst agreed, “but he is in the unfortunate position of having to bow to certain factions in his government. Generals Zoam and Niol are, as is well known, two of the biggest warmongers ever. Their greatest ambition is to dominate Earth and now Mars. I know, because an ambassador hears many things. The Generals have never said as much openly, preferring to use President Ilof as their mouthpiece. That is the situation, Master,” Hurst finished. “Nothing in the nature of an ultimatum has been presented yet, but I have the feeling it may happen before long. When it does I wish to be in a position to answer quickly, so what are your instructions?”

Calmly the Master answered: “Tell them that we shall not make any concessions whatever. Not an inch! And if they wish to fight over it we will use every available means to defeat them. I am aware that it means war between hemispheres, global war on a far-reaching, devastating scale. Even that is better than meekly kneeling down before the dictates of a Government that has no legal right to make such a claim. Against the possibility of war breaking out I will instruct the necessary experts in the west to prepare armaments and defensive measures to meet the storm, should it come.”

“That is your final decision, Master?”

“It is. You may return to your post as ambassador, Mister Hurst, and any serious change in the situation must be notified immediately by secret transmission.… A pity indeed that matters have to come to such a pass,” the Master added, musing. “Particularly so as we are all now essentially a single race, the product of nearly one thousand years of world peace and inter-marriage—before the creation of a new iron curtain between hemispheres in the last century, for reasons that are now obscure.”

“Their comparative isolation in the last century seems to have bred a race of malcontents and war-mongers,” Hurst commented.

The Master brooded, then said: “Thank you, Ambassador Hurst. That will be all.”

Hurst rose, inclined his head, and took his departure. He had not been gone five minutes before the Master again pressed a button on his desk, and this time it was a thick-necked young man with broad shoulders, powerful hands, and a slightly intelligent forehead who came into the office. He had the easy stride of a man used to physical activity and, though well-dressed, gave the impression that he would have been happier in. an open-necked shirt and working slacks.

“You have been trying to see me for some time, Mister Bradley,” the Master commented, eyeing him. “I have admired your persistence, but not until now have I deemed it worth my while to grant you an interview. Take a seat.”

“Thank you, Master.” Clem Bradley sat down, his sharp gray eyes on the Master’s tired, intellectual features.

“I understand,” the Master continued, “that you are the technical chief of the Roton Gun Engineering Company?”

“That’s right, Master. At the moment it is a very small company, I’m afraid, but at least I appreciate your kindness in granting me a license to get started.”

“That was not kindness, Mister Bradley. You were granted a license because it appeared to me, and my technical experts that you had developed a blast gun with significant possibilities. It would have been foolish to baulk you in your efforts to use this revolutionary gun. I am glad your little company is on its feet. What kind of contracts have you been getting?”

Clem shrugged. “Oh, small ones. Doing a little mining in one place, blasting away ancient buildings in another. But we’ll grow. I’ve got the business knowledge and my partner Buck Cardew is the right one to handle men. Between us we’ll have a powerful company one day.”

“I am glad to hear it.” The Master consulted a file and then sat back in his chair. “However, Mister Bradley, I did not of course summon you here to congratulate you upon your company. I am going to assign to you a project which calls exclusively for blasting equipment such as you possess.”

Clem’s expression changed suddenly. “You—you mean a Government contract, sir?”

“Obviously. I wonder if you recall, some little while ago, there being talk of a protective tower for this city in case of missile attack? You may remember that it was suggested we should have a mile-high tower, its summit equipped with every known radiation, the projectors emitting them to have universal movement to protect the city below on every side.”

“I remember it vaguely,” Clem admitted. “It was not given a very big public airing.”

“For obvious reasons. The public at that time would have reacted unfavorably to such an expenditure of money. Today, when hints keep leaking out of an impending crisis with the East, it is only sensible that we look to our defenses. So the Protection Tower—to give it its correct name—will come into being. The plans were drawn up long ago and I shall instruct the necessary engineers to go to work, immediately. Before they can do so the foundation shafts must be made, and for a tower a mile high they must of necessity be extremely deep.”

“You want the Roton Gun Company to drill them?” Clem asked eagerly.

“Exactly. The site we have selected, some fifteen miles from the southern coast, has a great deal of bedrock in it, chiefly to hold the tower foundations secure, and only the very finest blasting equipment will be able to make an impression. I am giving you the chance, Mister Bradley. When complete the tower will dominate the city at its southern end and also be the guardian of the sea as well. Now, here is the sketch plan of the foundation depth.”

Clem leaned forward, and from that moment onwards for the next half-hour he and the Master were in deep consultation. By the time he left Clem was not quite sure whether he was dreaming or not. A Government contract was the one thing needed to put any scientific business on its feet, and it seemed that the miracle had happened.

It definitely had, for the next day Clem, and his burly, iron-fisted partner Buck Cardew, transferred their men and equipment to the selected site fifteen miles from the south coast and began operations.

It was on the ninth day that they ran into difficulties, though when the morning shift began, there was no hint of trouble. Clem, looking about him on the surging activity deep below ground, mopped his face with his sweat-rag and settled his steel helmet more comfortably on his head.

“Another thousand feet ought to see this foundation space fully cleared,” he commented. “We’ve been cutting clean since we started and the next push should finish it.”

Square-jawed Buck Cardew nodded. In appearance there was little to choose between him and Clem—except that Clem was obviously the man with the brains whereas, for handling gangs of men and moving equipment, there couldn’t have been a better man anywhere than Buck Cardew.

“The Company’s on its feet to stay,” Buck grinned. “Thanks to the Master and his mile-high building—” He broke off and released a throaty bellow. “Hey there? What in hell are you boys wasting time about over there? Don’t you realize we’ve got a deadline? Stop standing around and get on with the job.”

“Can’t!” the ganger called back through his radiophone. “There’s a barrier here which even the blast-gun won’t cut. Come and take a look.”

“He’s crazy,” Clem growled. “That gun of mine will blast anything in earth or space. Maybe they’re just plain sick of groping around down here, and I wouldn’t blame ’em. A surface demolition’s much more interesting and healthy.”

“They’re paid to work, and they will!” Buck retorted. “I’ll soon settle ’em! Let’s see what they’re grousing about.”

Together he and Clem strode through the loose rubble of the floodlit space where the men were standing around the drilling apparatus. Buck put his hands on his hips and stared at the barrier facing the gun’s blunted nozzle.

“Turn it on there!” he ordered.

A blasting, ear-shattering roar instantly followed, but that stream of livid, tearing energy which had been known to go through successive walls of steel, granite and diamond simply deflected itself in a coiling streamer of brilliant blue sparks.

“Kill it!” Clem yelled. “What do you want to do? Blow us up with a backlash?”

Then as the commotion died down he clambered to the barrier and examined it carefully. It seemed to be dead black. “Put out those lights!” he ordered.

The moment they went out and darkness descended it became clear that the barrier was not black but swarming with violet radiance. There seemed to be a multitude of pinpricks floating around in a vast bowl.

“What in blazes is it?” Buck Cardew demanded, as the lights returned.

“As a scientist,” Clem answered slowly, “I’d say that it is force!”

“Huh? Force? But how did it get there?”

“Don’t ask me. But I believe it is force built up into a resilient wall that simply deflects our gun-blast, much the same as the force-shields on our modern spaceships deflect meteorites. Looks as if we’ve run into something unusual. Have to weigh it up.”

Clem stepped back and started making a rough plan and sketch of the situation. Then, under his direction, prompted by Buck Cardew’s bellowing voice, the gun was trained until it struck ordinary rock around the edge of the area. Gradually a way was cut round until the blue-black circle remained isolated.

Mystified, Clem and Buck clambered through into a deep cavern and stood staring in the light of their helmet lamps.

“Take a look at that!” Buck exclaimed suddenly, pointing.

Clem swung. Then his mouth opened in surprise as he found himself gazing through an impenetrable wall, which had deflected the force-gun. There was a girl visible, strapped to a table, her eyes staring unseeingly, her pretty face terrified.

“She isn’t moving,” Buck whispered blankly. “Say, she looks as if she’s imprisoned inside a globe of force! Who on earth is she, anyway?” he went on in amazement. “Look at her clothes! Girls haven’t worn things like that for centuries!”

Clem’s mind switched instantly to the scientific implications. He prowled around the cavern, examining it carefully, the astounded engineers piling in after him and dazedly contemplating the girl in the globe.

At last Clem halted, rubbing his jaw. “Bits and pieces lying around suggest that this cavern was once a laboratory, but heaven knows how long ago. Even bits of iron and steel have rusted into ferrous oxide powder in the interval. Hundreds of years, maybe. What we’ve got to do is break down this globe of force somehow.”

“How?” Buck demanded. “If a blast gun won’t do it it’s certain nothing else will.”

Clem thought for a moment, and then answered: “If, as is probable, it was created artificially, it can be un-created.” He turned to the waiting men. “Okay, boys, do your job. We’ve still a time-schedule to keep, remember. “I’ll use instruments on this and see what I can find out.”

The ganger nodded and blasting resumed, cutting a vast path at the back of the place. Clem gave quick instructions and had various instruments brought in to him. He figured steadily from their readings, quite oblivious to the shattering din and human shouts going on around him. After a while Buck came to his side, hands on hips.

“Well?” His keen eyes aimed eager questions. “Any clues?”

“I think so, and most of them incredible.” Clem’s voice had a touch of awe in it. “It looks as though somebody way back in the past solved a scientific problem which still puzzles us even today. That globe, if the readings here are true, registers zero! It isn’t there!”

“Are you crazy, or am I?” Buck demanded. “Of course it’s there! We can see it!”

Clem motioned to the instruments. Sure enough they all registered zero. Clem gave a grim smile as he saw Buck rubbing the back of his beefy neck.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “And these instruments are the best that money can buy.”

“Surely. Nothing wrong with those.”

“Then what’s the explanation?”

“It’s something, as far as I can work out, that has no entropy. If that be so it means that it has reached absolute equilibrium. There is no interchange of energy to register. A little universe all on its own, which has achieved the state our own universe will one day attain. It is the same now, possibly, as when it came into being. For that very reason it is apart from all known forces. It is divorced from light, radiation, heat—everything. You see, it cannot assimilate anything more because it is assimilated to maximum. Nothing can go into the globe and nothing can come out of it.”

Buck was looking completely bewildered. “Then how do we smash it up? Or open it?”

“‘Only one thing we can perhaps do, and that is warp it. Gravitation alone is independent of all other forces. Today we know that for certain. Gravity is a warp in the space-time continuum: it is not a force, as such. Down here we have gravitator-plates for shifting rocks. Maybe twin stresses brought to focus would warp this ball of absolute force and cause a rupture. Yes, it’s worth trying!” Clem decided. “This is quite the weirdest thing I ever struck.”

He gave further instructions and gravitator-screens of vast size were erected in the positions he directed. A past-master in stresses and strains, he knew just what he was doing, whether it would work on the globe or not was problematical.

It was an hour before he was satisfied, Buck Cardew becoming more and more impatient at such painstaking thoroughness; but at last Clem was satisfied and raised his hand in a signal. Simultaneously the power was switched on, a power exactly duplicating the etheric warp of gravitation itself. What happened then none of the men could afterwards clearly remember.

The globe burst with an explosion that hurled the engineers flat against the wall, pinning them there under an out-flowing wave of gigantic, hair-bristling force. The screens overturned and went crashing against the rocks. A rumble as of deep thunder rolled throughout the underground cavern and died away in the far distance.

Slowly the sense of released electrical tension began to subside, leaving the cavern heavy with the smell of ozone. Clem stood up gradually, turned, expecting to see the girl blasted to pieces. But instead she was definitely alive and wriggling to free herself!

“…do this to me!” she cried desperately, straining at the straps.

“Not only alive, but fighting mad,” Buck whispered, seizing Clem’s arm and, staring at her. “Why didn’t she die when that thing blew up?”

“Because the force expanded outwards from her. She was as safe as though in the epicenter of a cyclone.”

Clem strode forward and gazed at the girl’s face. A most extraordinary expression came over her delicate features as she stared into the grimy visages under the steel helmets. Her dark-blue eyes widened in further alarm.

“What— Who are you?” she breathed weakly, going limp in the straps. “Where’s Bryce?”

“Bryce?” Clem gave her a baffled glance; then leaning forward he unbuckled the straps and raised the girl gently. He fished in his hip-pocket, spun the top from a flask with his teeth, then held the opening to the girl’s lips. The fiery liquid, something she had never tasted before, went through her veins like liquid dynamite, setting her heart and nerves bounding with vigorous life.

Flushed, breathing hard, she looked in bewilderment at the puzzled men.

“Where’s Bryce?” she demanded. “Bryce Fairfield. He locked me in here with the threat that he was going after Reggie.”

“Oh?” Clem tried not to look too vague. “Matter of fact, miss, I’ve never heard of Bryce—nor Reggie. That reminds me!” Clem broke off. “When you recovered a moment ago you said something. What was it?”

“I said: ‘Bryce, you can’t do this to me!’”

Clem shook his head. “No! You only said: ‘do this to me!’ There was no beginning to your sentence. I noticed at the time that it sounded odd. I assume this Bryce Fairfield was in here when you started your sentence?”

“Yes—yes, of course he was. He was going to throw a power-switch which would have.…” Lucy’s voice trailed off as she gazed around the cavern and at the unfamiliar blasting equipment. “Everything’s different,” she faltered. “There’s no switchboard now, and no door.… Tell me, who are you?”

When none of the men answered Lucy’s gaze swung to the calendar, or at least to the place where it should have been. There was only a mass of crumpled rock. She gave a gasp.

“There was a calendar there!” she cried. “It said seventeenth of August, two thousand and nine. Where’s it gone?”

“Two thousand and nine!” Buck Cardew exclaimed. “Hell! No wonder you’re dressed in such old-fashioned clothes!”

“Old-fashioned?” Lucy’s voice caught a little as she looked down at herself. “But how can they be? It’s still two thousand and nine, isn’t it?”

Nobody answered. Grim looks passed between the men.

“Well, isn’t it?” she cried, nearly in tears; then Clem put a gentle arm about her shoulders.

“Better hang on to yourself, miss,” he said gravely. “This is the year 3004 A.D.”

All trace of colour drained from the girl’s face. She half tried to smile and then went serious again. She was obviously utterly stunned.

“3004,” she repeated. “That’s nearly a thousand years. It can’t be true! It just can’t!”

“I’m afraid it is,” Clem said, his voice quiet as he saw her distress. “We can’t even begin to understand the situation or try to help you until we hear your side of the story. Who are you? What happened in this cavern?”

“I’m Lucy Denby and—” Slowly the girl unfolded the story. The men listened in grim silence, looking at each other when it was over.

“I wish I could have had a few moments with that Bryce Fairfield,” Buck murmured, clenching his fists. “I’d have hit him so hard they’d have had to scrape him from the wall.”

“A thousand years!” Lucy repeated again. “I just don’t understand it! What am I to do? Do you realize what has really happened to me?”

“You felt nothing during this enormous lapse of time?” Clem asked thoughtfully.

“Nothing whatever. Except that I seem to remember I felt a passing wave of dizziness when Bryce threw in the switches. Even then I hardly realized what he had done. I couldn’t see anything clearly through the bubble wall. Then, in what seemed a matter of seconds—certainly no longer—you appeared. So now,” Lucy finished hopelessly, “I’m utterly alone. My husband long since dead, and my baby too, assuming that he ever grew up.”

“Unfortunately,” Clem said, “we can’t put back the clock. All we can do is offer you the hospitality of this day and age.” He rubbed his jaw and then gave an uneasy glance. “At least, I hope we can offer you our hospitality,” he amended. “You see, things have changed a lot whilst you have been a prisoner. Today everybody is tabulated and indexed, and you’re a sort of odd girl out. If your lack of an index-card is discovered you may be executed.”

“Executed!” Lucy stared in horrified amazement.

“Anybody without an index-card, without even a proven line of descent, is deemed outcast by the Government Council or else the Master himself, and promptly eliminated. In at way spying and sabotage is crushed. We shall have to be extremely careful how we handle things. What makes it doubly difficult is the fact that a new war is threatening.”

“There is still threat of war?” Lucy asked hopelessly. “There was a similar state of affairs when in my own time, various countries were at loggerheads with each other—”

“Long forgotten,” Clem interrupted. “Today the trouble is between hemispheres. This is the West against the East: something to do with planetary concessions. But it’s war just the same, and that being so, your position is awkward.”

“Surely I will be allowed to explain the situation? Or you can?”

“Not on the basis of what I know so far,” Clem answered, sighing. “I don’t even begin to understand the genius of Bryce Fairfield. I’ll have to work out exactly what he did and then submit my findings to the Master. Once he is satisfied—and there is no guarantee that he will be—you will get city status and become one of us. But in the meantime—”

“There’s my wife,” Buck Cardew interrupted. “She was to have Worker Ten to assist her in house duties. I could arrange it so that Worker Ten is bought off and Mrs. Denby here takes her place. It’s been done before and could be done again. How about it?”

“Risky, but maybe worth it,” Clem answered. “We’ll do that; then I can keep in touch with you,” he added, looking at Lucy. “For the moment you had better stay here with us and then come along home after dark. We’ll look after you—and you’ll have an awful lot to see,” he finished. “‘Things have changed enormously since your day.”

“I can imagine,” Lucy said, and gave her first faint smile.

At about this time, in the wilderness of the city’s huge powerhouse, Chief Engineer Collins studied the peculiarity with cold blue eyes. For the first time in his thirty years’ supervision of this master power station something was wrong. The smooth night-and-day rhythm of the giant engines, which fed a city sprawling over nearly every part of what had once been the British Isles, fostered and tended by complicated robots, was being interrupted. There was a very slight flaw in the uptake of power. Perhaps it was only carbon dust. It had happened once before, twenty years earlier.

Collins summoned testing-robots. They came up with their many instruments and gathered about him, obeying all the commands he planted in their reasoning brainpans. With mathematical exactitude, far keener than even his excellent reasoning, they traced the flaw and handed out the report.

“Intermission fault of one ten-thousandth of a second,” Collins mused. “Bad! Definitely bad!”

Turning, he slammed in switches and was immediately connected with the slave powerhouses in other parts of the city.

“What’s your power report?” he questioned.

It was given him immediately. There was nothing wrong there, but there was here, and what was more it was becoming worse. The sweetly-humming giant had taken on a definite lobbing sound, like the thud of a flat tire on a smooth road.

Struck with the unbelievable thought that there might be a flaw in the metal, Collins turned to the gigantic balance wheel, which formed the basis of the master-engine. He had just reached it when something happened.

A pear-shaped swelling appeared suddenly on the edge of the mighty wheel, only visible as a mist with the wheel’s rotation. It grew at phenomenal speed—and then exploded! Flung by centrifugal force, mighty pieces of metal flashed to all parts of the powerhouse. One struck Collins clean on the forehead and dropped him dead where he stood. The robots looked on impartially, their guiding genius lying mangled on the floor.

Immediately the other engines ceased to work as an automatic contact breaker clamped down on the entire area. The alarms rang. The emergency bulb went up on the desk of the chief powerhouse controller at City Center.

Breakdown, for the first time in thirty years! It was incredible.

CHAPTER THREE: BRIDGE OF DEATH

Clem Bradley, Buck, and Lucy Denby, were in Clem’s little autobus doing two hundred miles an hour down the traffic-way bridge to City Center when the power failed. All of a sudden the vast, long line of light and steel that had held the girl in thrall went into total darkness.

“What the hell—!”

Clem let out a gasp of amazement, then his hands quickly tightened on the switches. Never in his experience had he come up against a sudden blackout like this. It was utterly unheard of. He slammed on the emergency brake, but either he slammed too hard or the steel was faulty, for the pedal snapped clean off under the pressure.

He was too astounded, too desperately busy, to exclaim about it. Like a madman he tried to cut down the power of the engine as the autobus raced onwards into the unrelieved darkness, the bridge girders, faintly visible against the sky, whipping past at dizzying speed.

“Hey, stop this thing!” Buck Cardew yelled. “There may be something ahead, and if there is, at this speed, it’ll be the finish. Where’s your search-lamp?”

“Switch it on for me,” Clem panted. “I’ve all I can handle!”

Throughout this hair-raising performance Lucy sat in frozen alarm, the wind rushing past her face as Buck fumbled on the control panel. Then suddenly the blinding cold-light brilliance split the darkness ahead.

“Look!” Lucy cried hoarsely.

But Clem had already seen it—the unbelievable—a vast fissure glowing mysteriously across the traffic-way itself. The bridge was breaking in two! There could be no other explanation. And below there was a drop of a quarter-of-a-mile into the brimming waters of a river.

“Jump it!” Buck yelled. “Full belt! You’ll just make it!”

The why and wherefore flashed unanswered in Clem’s brain. He gave the autobus everything it had got, shot over the crumbling edge of the fissure, then slammed with shattering force onto the other side of the bridge. So terrific was the shock of the front wheel axle snapped like a carrot, slewed the car round, and then-plastered it with splintering impact against the cross-girders at the bridge side.

“Whew!” Buck whistled in relief, mopping his face. “That was too close for comfort. You okay, Miss Ancient History?”

He heaved the slumped girl up beside him and she gave a nervous little laugh. “Yes—yes, I’m all right, but—” She stared at the waters so far below and wondered if the river might actually be Old Father Thames still on his way to the sea; then she twisted her head to survey the still enlarging gap in the bridge. “Just what is wrong?” she asked finally.

“Hanged if I know,” Clem snapped. “First my brake pedal broke off like a match-stick, then the front axle gave way, and the bridge is rapidly—”

He broke off and stared as headlights flashed into view on the distant dark stretch.

“They’ll go over!” he gasped, vaulting over the car’s side. “Maybe I can warn them in time.”

He went pelting back along the bridge, pulling out the safety red light he used underground and flashing it as he ran. Desperately he waved it to and fro. He saw, as the first vehicle came hurtling nearer, that it was a public service transport. Closer—closer, until he could read its brightly illuminated number-plate—KT 897.

“Stop!” he screamed helplessly. “Stop, you fool!”

The driver saw the danger too late. The transport went plunging over the edge of the broken bridge, a private autobus behind it following suit. Dazed with horror Clem watched both vehicles go hurtling down into the wastes below. The cries of the doomed people floated up in a ghastly echo.

“My God,” he whispered. “All those folks—”

“I can’t get the emergency station,” Buck said, hurrying up. “If the bridge is cracked then the wires along it will be too.” He stopped, his eyes widening as he stared at the fissure. “Look at the infernal thing, Clem! It’s still enlarging—!”

“I know.” Clem’s voice was grim as he shifted his gaze from the depths below. “There’s something incredibly wrong about all this, Buck. First the light and power goes off, and then this—”

“Altogether,” Lucy remarked, not finding it easy to keep a hint of sarcasm from her voice, “my arrival in a time a thousand years ahead of my own hasn’t been too auspicious.”

“Believe me, Ancient, things like this never happened before,” Buck insisted.

“Confound it, Buck, the lady has a name,” Clem objected, but the girl only laughed.

“I rather like being called ‘Ancient’. It’s so different. And it sounds natural coming from you, Buck.”

Buck scratched the back of his thick neck as he tried to determine whether Lucy was serious or not; then Clem spoke again, obviously preoccupied with the problem on hand.

“It’s incredible that tried and tested steel, rust-proof and everything, should start behaving in this way! Forgetting the brake and axle on the autobus for a moment, take the case of this bridge. For a hundred years it has been regularly overhauled. Supersonic testers have proved it to be absolutely perfect without even an air bubble or inner fault. Yet now it behaves as though suffering from atomic blight—”

“What’s that?” Lucy enquired curiously.

“Oh, a sort of corrosion which afflicts metals if they have been in contact with atomic radiation anywhere. But in the case of this bridge such a thought isn’t even admissible. No; it’s something else, but don’t ask me what.”

“Something coming up from the distance,” Buck remarked. “It looks like an emergency car.”

He was right. In a few moments an emergency official transport came speeding up from behind them. A uniformed officer jumped out and came hurrying forward.

“What’s gone wrong here?” he demanded, and Buck promptly gave the details whilst the official glanced around him, taking in the situation. Finally he turned to his man.

“Send a radio call and have the bridge closed at both ends pending examination. Had a smash, eh?” he went on, surveying the shattered autobus.

“Just leapt the gap in time,” Clem answered.

“I don’t understand this at all,” the officer continued, frowning. “This steel here is like treacle, just melting away. I hear the same sort of thing happened in the master powerhouse this evening. Flywheel went spongy, or something, and just blew to bits.”

“Oh?” Clem looked thoughtful. “It did, did it? Any serious damage?”

“Chief engineer killed and light and power cut off. It’s the impossibility of it all. This city is so flawless the thought of even a screw coming loose is unheard of. Anyhow, let’s have your index cards.”

Buck delayed in handing his over whilst Clem did some fast thinking to explain away the anxious Lucy. Presently the officer turned to her and she looked at him uneasily, fumbling in. the borrowed mining tunic which Clem had loaned her before they had left the site.

“Come along, miss!” the officer insisted impatiently. “I have a lot to do.”

“S-sorry. I—er—I seem to have lost my card.”

“Of course you did!” Clem exclaimed suddenly, trying to sound as though he had just remembered something. “Don’t you remember, when we were out of town something fell and we were in too much of a hurry to bother with it? That must have been what it was.”

“What’s your number?” the guard asked.

“She’s Worker Ten, Domestic Section,” Clem said quickly.

“Domestic Section? What’s she doing out here, coming from the city outskirts?”

“She was staying with friends and we picked her up,” Buck Cardew said levelly.

“Mmm, I see. See you produce your index-card at Civic Headquarters tomorrow, without fail.” The officer handed Lucy a ticket. “Now all three of you had better get off this bridge. What’s left of your car will be returned to you later on. Move along, please.”

They turned away, glancing at each other in the dim light.

“That,” Buck commented, “was even more uncomfortably close than that dash across the bridge. We’ll square it all right tomorrow with Worker Ten’s card.”

“Uh-huh,” Clem agreed absently.

“Queer,” Lucy remarked, “that a bridge of steel should actually melt like that—and a powerhouse flywheel fly apart and a brake snap on the car. Sounds very much like ‘troubles never come singly’ as we used to say in my time.…” Her voice trailed off into wistfulness for a moment; then it dawned on the two silently pacing men that she was crying softly to herself.

“Here now, Ancient, this won’t do,” Buck told her, his great arm about her shoulder. “What’s wrong? Homesick?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” she asked, between sniffs. “There’s Reggie, and my baby, and— It all seems so recent to me. As though only a few hours ago I was with them. And now I’m here, with the knowledge that I can never see or know of them again.”

“It’s tough all right,” Clem agreed, dislodging Buck’s arm and putting his own in its place, “but we’ll look after you. We’re not such bad folks when you get to understand our ways—even though we’ll probably seem a bit regimented.”

More pacing and Lucy slowly recovered again. Then she asked a question: “I suppose you’ve no idea what’s gone wrong with the steel?”

“None whatever,” Clem replied. “It’s a complete mystery.”

“I’ve got one angle on it,” Buck said, thinking. “It’s probably the work of Eastern agents. They’re everywhere, honeycombing the West. Some new scientific devilry of theirs, I’ll gamble.”

“Possibly,” Clem agreed. “If so, they’ve got a mighty fine weapon!”

They finished the rest of the journey on foot, each busily thinking, and by the time they had reached Buck Cardew’s home in the city’s heart, the lights had come on again and power was working normally.

Mrs. Cardew, slim, practical, and dark-headed, was clearly discomfited by the power failure.

“Is something the matter, Eva?” Buck asked in surprise. “Outside of the blackout, I mean.”

“Yes, Buck, I—” She stopped, looking past Clem towards Lucy.

“Friend of mine,” Clem smiled. “Lucy Denby. We found her in rather peculiar circumstances— Well, we’ll need you to help us.”

“I know you can,” Buck added reassuringly. “This girl has got to have protection and she can’t get it anywhere better than right here.”

“Willingly,” Eva assented. “But who is she? I mean what Grade?”

“No Grade at all. She’s come direct from 2009 A.D. She’s an Ancient Briton. Remember reading about them in the History Recorders?”

Eva Cardew stared blankly; and she stared even more as the story was unfolded to her. Finally she looked at Lucy for confirmation.

“Yes, it’s true,” Lucy sighed. “I’ll try not to seem too dense in face of the scientific wonders you must have in this Age of yours, and I do thank all of you for the way in which you’ve helped me—”

“Buck,” Eva interrupted, “we can’t get away with this! I didn’t know this girl was not registered. It’s a risk we can’t afford to take! Don’t you realize that if we’re caught sheltering her, and she has no index-card to produce, we can be lethalized?”

“Course I know,” Buck growled. “What about it? You don’t suggest we turn the poor girl loose, do you? Anyway, that’s all sorted out. I’m canceling Worker Ten, and Ancient here can take her place.”

“That,” Eva said, “will be more difficult than you think. Worker Ten was killed tonight on an in-town transport. It went over the bridge on which you had such a narrow escape.”

Clem started and Buck’s eyes widened.

“Was it Transport KT-eight-nine-seven?” Clem questioned sharply.

“It was. They gave it out on the local newsflash not ten minutes before you arrived. That was why I was looking so bothered when you came—trying to decide about my household duties.”

“This,” Buck groaned, “is the finish! The authorities know that Worker Ten is dead, along with hundreds of other people, and we told that officer that Ancient here is Worker Ten.”

“Yes,” Clem muttered, “we did.”

Silence, Lucy looking from one to the other uneasily.

“So there it is,” Eva said, glancing at her. “You can surely see, Lucy—I suppose I can call you that—that we can’t jeopardize our lives by having you stay with us?”

“And what’s the alternative?” Buck asked. “We can’t turn her loose in a city and time she doesn’t know anything about. It would be worse than murder! And certainly Clem can’t take her to his place since he’s known to live alone.”

“Suppose we got married?” Lucy asked surprisingly.

“Huh?” Clem stared at her, uncomprehending.

“I mean it,” she said. “I’d trust you anywhere, Clem—or you, Buck. You’re both grand fellows. Don’t you see?” she went on eagerly. “If we got married, Clem—in name only of course, since I’d be doing it solely to protect myself—we could live together in safety and decency, and then Buck and Eva wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Now I know you’re an Ancient Briton,” Buck smiled. “Do you mean that in your time marriages were entered into as lightly as that?”

“Sometimes, yes. Just get a special license, a Justice of the Peace and the thing’s as good as done.”

“Not anymore,” Clem said, with a serious shake of his head. “If we tried to get married, Lucy—and don’t think I don’t appreciate the compliment—we’d be worse in the soup than we are now. First your index-card would be needed; then you would have to go before the Eugenics Council for a medical examination. Then I would have to do likewise. After a gap of about six months the Council would decide if we were fitted to marry each other. If so, special forms would be granted, fully indexed mind you, and then a rubber stamp would proclaim us mated. Not married: that word is defunct. Marriage today is a biological partnership of ideally suited male and female parties. So say the great ones.”

“Then one doesn’t marry for love anymore?” Lucy asked in amazement.

“Sometimes it works out that love and eugenics match. In the great majority of cases you only get biological matches. Good idea in some ways. It has stamped out disease, the unfit, and the over or under-prolific. No, Lucy, that wouldn’t do.”

“She stays here!” Buck declared flatly. “That was the idea in the first place, and it still holds good. Tomorrow, if we haven’t thought of anything bright, we’ll smuggle her to the underground site until we do think of something bright. Nobody from the law will get down there without your express permission, Clem.”

“Looks like the only solution,” Clem admitted. “Think you can fall in with our views, Eva, and take a gamble?”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Lucy exclaimed. “It isn’t fair that you should be asked to take such a chance. I’m all for giving myself up to the authorities and explaining the facts.”

“They’d listen, no doubt of that,” Clem said. “If they didn’t I think I could get the Master to give us a hearing—and his word is law. But unless I could prove what we were saying I’d get nowhere. And there isn’t a shred of evidence!”

“Not even in these ancient clothes I’m wearing?” Lucy pulled aside the overalls. “Ancient to you, that is.”

“Not even those. You could have obtained them from the history museum—or, if none have been reported missing from there, you could have manufactured them on a synthetic clothing machine. Most women have them these days.”

“Then—then what about these biological experts you have?” Lucy hurried on. “Surely, if I submitted to an examination, they could find things different in my make-up to those of a woman normal to this time? In a thousand years there must have been some sort of evolution.”

“Not in a thousand years,” Clem replied seriously. “It takes tens of thousands to alter a physical characteristic so far as to make it noticeable. You think back to your own time, and then to people existing a thousand years before you. How much change is there to be detected?”

Lucy sighed. “None. To the eye, anyway. Even two thousand years doesn’t seem to make much difference. I never thought we could be so stumped for proof. The force-bubble gone, the cavern blown up, and all traces of Bryce’s handiwork rusted into dust.”

“That brings us back to my own idea,” Buck insisted. “No other way, Ancient. You can see that too, Eva, surely?”

Eva seemed to have made up her mind—or else her overbearingly generous husband had made it up for her. She turned to Lucy, smiled, and then said quietly:

“All right, Lucy, I’ll risk it—” and to cement the fact she shook hands warmly. Then she began to move into action. “Take off those overalls and make yourself at home. I’ll fix an extra place for you at the table. You’ll certainly be in need of a meal?”

“Starving,” Lucy confirmed, struggling out of the overalls with Clem’s help. When at last she was free he patted her shoulder.

“Everything will be all right,” he assured her, smiling seriously. “I’ll be along tomorrow with some plan worked out. Meantime I can rely on Buck to keep you hidden if anything unpleasant arises.”

“You’re not staying for a meal?” Buck asked.

“No, old man. Better get back for when that wreck of an autobus is returned to me.”

With that Clem took his departure. Lucy, whilst Buck departed to other regions presumably to freshen up, found herself surveying more closely this typical city home of the year 3004. Basically she could see little difference from the more modern homes of her own time, but here and there were refinements that fascinated her. The wall, for instance, facing the warmly-glowing electrode fireplace was composed of two panels. In one was inset a flat television screen; and in the other a loudspeaker permanently on by law so that any official notice could not fail to be received.

Another refinement was lack of corners. The room was almost circular, floored in a rubber substance of scrupulous cleanness, and all the furniture was metal. The two doors leading off the room slid on runners instead of moving back and forth. Fascinated, Lucy began to wander to the nearer doorway and found herself looking in on the kitchen where Eva was busily at work.

Everything was electrical, and thermostatically controlled, dials and meters in the walls ensuring exact temperatures for cooking and culinary necessities. At the moment Eva was in the midst of operating a highly-polished and complicated-looking machine. “Come in,” she invited, noticing Lucy watching.

Lucy did so, surveying curiously. Apparently there was no necessity for to handle anything. From the washing-up machine to the robot dish-cleaner everything was automatic.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked curiously.

“Preparing an extra meal for you. All you do is put the concentrates in this funnel here and then they drop inside this machine and all sorts of queer things happen. Don’t ask me what because I’m no scientist. The finished result is a perfectly cooked meal. That is if you don’t object to a beef omelette?”

“Object? I’d love it.”

Lucy glanced up as Buck came into view again. He was in shirt and trousers, his skin bright red from a vigorous washing, and in one hand he was clutching his pants’ belt. “Something wrong here, Eva,” he said. “Maybe you can fix it for me. My belt’s given way.”

“Given way?” Eva looked surprised. “But that’s the one I bought you for your birthday. Ox-hide. It couldn’t give way.”

Holding his trousers with one hand Buck handed the belt across—or at least the two halves of it. It had parted down the centre back as though it had gone rotten.

“Nice thing!” Eva exclaimed indignantly. “I’ll take it back to the store tomorrow! I’ve been swindled.”

“Looks like it.” Buck drew in his pants’ waist by another notch and then rubbed his hands. “Well, what about the meal, sweetheart? I’m starving.”

“Coming right up. I’ll just get Lucy some more suitable up-to-date clothes first. She can borrow some of mine; we’re about the same size.”

Lucy did not say anything but thought a good deal. In a thousand years home life had changed but little, she decided. Only the externals were different. It brought back to her vivid memories of her own life with Reggie, and once again she felt like crying. Somehow, though, she kept a hold on herself, and after quickly changing into the borrowed clothes Lucy gave her—Eva taking away her old ones—she rejoined the Cardews downstairs.

Soon she was seated at their table enjoying her first real meal in 3004. She found it delightful, the mysteriously created omelette having a richness of flavour that her own time had never been able to produce. This, the hot drink that tasted like a cross between cocoa and coffee, and the warm friendliness of the two who were her guardians, made her begin to feel almost happy again.

“You’re more than kind,” Lucy smiled. “One day, if I can ever convince the powers-that-be that I’m quite harmless, I’ll try and get some work and repay you for all you’ve done.”

“Forget it,” Buck grinned. “Only too glad to help. As for repayment, we won’t even hear of it. You can help Eva if you like, as Worker Ten would have done, and let it go at that.”

Lucy nodded and then went on with her meal. During the course of it she gathered that there were two children in the Cardew family—boy and girl—but by law they were not allowed to live in the home during the ‘education period.’ They were cared for by the State crèche and only allowed, until the age of sixteen, to see their parents twice a year. In this manner juvenile delinquency had long since been stamped out even though it caused profound heartache amongst many parents.

By the time she had got to bed, between sheets electrically aired from a source she could not discover, Lucy was quite convinced that she was dreaming. Surely all this couldn’t really be happening? Even now she had not assimilated the astounding fact that she would never see 2009 again.… Had she been in the office of the Master at that moment, however, she would certainly have realized that her experience was not a dream.

The Master, in fact, was by no means pleased at being detained so late in his lofty sanctuary. The power failure had delayed him in the first instance, and now the repercussions of it were still holding him to his desk. Before him stood a guard—the same one who had questioned Clem, Buck and Lucy on the river bridge.

“I’ve had the engineers throw a skeleton pass-way over the fissure, Master,” he reported. “It will take all the traffic single-file. The bridge dissolution seems to have ceased now so I have given the order for traffic to resume. Parts of the faulty bridge section have been removed and sent to the analytical laboratory for a report.”

“Very well,” the Master acknowledged, making a note. “I want an immediate report when the cause of the defect is known. You informed the laboratory of that, I trust?”

“I did, Master, yes.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, Master. A public transport plunged over the fissure, and then a private autobus—”

“I know. That was reported direct. It has been given over the public speaker, together with a list of the numbers and names of the passengers. That was done for the convenience of relatives. The transport will be salvaged from the river in daylight, together with the private car that followed it. The occupants of that car are at present unidentified, I take it?”

“Up to the moment, Master, yes. There is, however, a matter I feel I should report. It puzzles me—”

The guard broke off in surprise as his atom gun holster, hanging from a broad strap about his shoulder, suddenly dropped to the floor. He gazed down at it blankly and the Master waited, his lips compressed.

“I would suggest that in future you buckle your accoutrements more securely,” he said curtly.

The guard nodded somewhat dazedly and picked up his gun and holster from the floor. The odd thing was that the strap was securely buckled—but the leather itself had rotted visibly close to the holster.

“Obtain a fresh one,” the Master instructed, studying it. “Here is a renewal card—” He handed it over and sat back in his chair. “You were remarking upon a matter which puzzles you. Please continue.”

The guard came back to life with something of an effort. “Er, yes,” he assented. “It concerns a young woman whom I encountered on the bridge in company with Mister Bradley and Mister Cardew, the two blasting engineers who are at work on the Protection Tower foundations. She had no index-card with her, her explanation being that she had accidentally dropped it. Mister Bradley confirmed her statement. However, she gave her index-number as Worker Ten, Domestic Grade. Since then I have learned from the public transport authority that Worker Ten was on the transport which fell in the river.”

The Master drew towards him the passenger list, which had been submitted from transport headquarters. He studied it, then with no expression in his face he pushed it aside again.

“Yes, Worker Ten was on that transport,” he confirmed. “That is if she did take it. Certainly her number was registered, as was everybody else’s. There may be a mistake.”

“We could be sure, Master, if we had Worker Ten’s civic photograph transmitted immediately. I could tell in a moment if the girl I saw is the same person.”

“Very well.” The Master touched a button and spoke into the microphone that swung gently towards him. “Civic Records?” he asked. “Transmit immediately a photograph of Worker Ten, female, Domestic Grade.”

“Yes, Master.”

There followed an interval, during which the guard carefully examined his mysteriously ruined gun-belt; then a screen came to life on the Master’s desk and in vivid coloring Worker Ten was depicted, both full-face and profile. She was dark, thin-cheeked, with one eyebrow noticeably higher than the other.

“No,” the guard said flatly. “That is not the woman I saw.”

The Master switched off, frowning a little. “I assume you ordered her to report with her index-card by tomorrow?”

“I did, Master. I assumed her story to be genuine, but now I am extremely doubtful.”

“And you say she was with Mister Bradley and Mister Cardew?”

“Yes, Master. I recognized them immediately: their work makes them pretty well-known at present. That was why I gave her the benefit of the doubt.”

“Quite so. It is unlikely that Mister Bradley would take her to his home since he is known to be living alone at present. Mister Cardew, on the other hand, has a wife. You might do worse than make enquiry at Mister Cardew’s home and get further details. If you fail in that respect then put a guard on all routes out of town and use a secondary investigation corps to keep watch on the homes of both Mister Cardew and Mister Bradley. Just at the moment we cannot afford any laxity with unidentified people. International tension is too great.”

“Very well, Master. I’ll make enquiry immediately.”

The guard bowed his way out and departed. He stayed in the building only long enough to obtain a new belt from the armaments section, then he was on his way in an official car. His arrival at the Cardew home and subsequent hammering on the door stirred Buck out of well-earned slumber.

“What the hell—” he growled, sitting up and listening. “Who’d want me at this time of night?”

He was too fogged with sleep at that moment to think of anything but the blasting site being the cause of trouble. Then when he had stumbled to the window and saw a law officer looking up from the brightly-lighted street he remembered Lucy.

“Eva, quick!” he gasped hoarsely, and she stirred lazily in her bed. “The police I think. Get Ancient to a safe place.”

“But—but where?” Eva groped stupidly for her robe.

“I dunno. Think of something. I’ll keep this quizzer occupied meanwhile.”

Buck flung open the window and leaned out. “Well, what is it?” he demanded—and Eva fled from the bedroom, reaching Lucy’s room in a matter of seconds.

“Wass wrong?” Lucy yawned, awakened from a dream of 2008, in which she and Reggie had been enjoying a picnic. “Who is it?”

“Eva! Get out of bed and follow me—and keep quiet!”

Strangeness in her surroundings caused her several moments’ delay in focusing things. When at last she did get a grip on realities she realized she was being pushed relentlessly, along with the discarded clothes Eva had taken from her bedside, into the washing machine in the kitchen. The lights were not on and the whole thing was a confused struggle in semi-gloom.

“Police are here,” Eva panted, just visible in reflected street light from outside. “This is the only place I can put you. Cover yourself with the clothes, and don’t breathe, sneeze or move!”

The lid closed and Lucy crouched, cold metal fittings prodding into her in most uncomfortable places. She waited, her heart thudding.

“This is an absolute waste of time, officer,” came Buck’s grumbling voice, as he led the way into the living room and switched on the lights. “Digging me out at this hour with your crazy notions!”

Eva fled up the back stairs from the kitchen and regained Lucy’s room. Hastily she remade the bed, removed the borrowed pair of shoes she had previously overlooked, and then hurried back with them to her own room.

“I’m acting under orders, Mister Cardew,” the guard said, his keen eyes darting about the room. “You know as well as I do that we cannot afford to take chances these days, particularly with potential spies.”

“Spies!” Buck exclaimed. “What in blazes do you mean? I assure you—”

“Look here, Mister Cardew, my time’s valuable, and I know you must be wanting to get back to bed. Better let me search the place, then I can report back to headquarters.”

“Where’s your authority?” Buck snapped—but in face of the official card the guard displayed he had no power to say anything further. Grim-faced and inwardly apprehensive he prowled directly behind the officer as he made a routine search of the downstairs rooms, until presently he reached the kitchen.

“Look, man, do you think I’d be idiot enough to try and house a spy?” Buck demanded.

“You might. Anybody might.” The guard’s eyes pinned him. “Sorry. No personal offence intended but anybody and everybody’s suspect these days. The fact remains that the woman you were with on the bridge tonight, with Mister Bradley was not Worker Ten.”

The guard peered inside the food-manufacturing machine and then eyed the washer thoughtfully. The small transparent inspection panel at the front showed only the borrowed clothes Lucy had hastily showed in front of her. He strolled towards it and put his hand to the lid, then his attention was arrested by something in a wicker-basket in the corner. Moving over to it he lifted out a brown silk dress and other odds and ends of feminine finery, including an old-fashioned pair of shoes.

“What are these?” he asked curtly, as Buck stared at them.

“Eh? My wife’s of course. Get your hands off them!”

“I want the truth, Mister Cardew. These garments cannot possibly be your wife’s. I’m married myself and I know that no woman in her right senses wears this kind of thing now. Hundreds of years ago maybe, but not today. What’s the answer?”

“We—er—” Buck rubbed his neck. “We’ve been putting over an amateur television play recently and an old-fashioned character was in it. That was the clothing my wife used.”

“I’d like the name of the play, the public access station from which it was televised, and a copy of the permit to present it.”

Buck became silent. His none too swift brain had run out of excuses.

“All very unconvincing, Mister Cardew,” the guard snapped. “I have no proof, of course, that these extraordinarily old-fashioned clothes belong to the woman I’m looking for, but I will say that it’s a reasonable assumption! Now, are you prepared to give me the facts and save yourself a great deal of trouble later?”

“There are no facts to give,” Buck retorted. “And the sooner you get out of my house the better I’ll like it.”

“I’ll leave when my investigation is complete. Let us go upstairs.”

Bundling up the clothes the guard pushed them into a plastic bag, which Buck sullenly handed to him from a kitchen drawer, then the search continued upstairs. Eva, feigning sleep, felt her heart hammer as the guard switched on the light and went silently but thoroughly around the bedroom—then he came out again and looked at the adjoining door.

“What’s in there?” he asked briefly.

“Vis—visitor’s room.” Buck clenched his fists. He had no idea whether Lucy was in there or not.

“Open it.”

Buck obeyed and the lights came up. He sighed within himself at beholding everything orderly, the bed coverlet drawn up and giving a ‘not-slept-in’ appearance. The guard looked under the bed, then straightened and went to the wardrobe and slid back the door. The rails were empty.

“Very well,” he said, turning. “I’ll take a look at the other appointments in the house and then go—and I think you are a very foolish man, Mister Cardew. You will have to do a lot of thinking to explain away this!” and he held up the plastic bag significantly.

Buck did not answer. A glint of fury in his eyes he kept beside the guard until he had finally satisfied himself—so far as he could tell—that the girl he sought was nowhere in the house. Only then did he depart, and even then Buck waited until the noise of the official car died away in the distance.

“Blast!” he muttered to himself, and then at a sudden clangor from the kitchen he hurried in to find Lucy just disentangling herself from the washing-machine.

“Nice cold thing to hide in,” she panted as he helped her free.

“You—you were in there?” Buck gasped. “Sweet cosmos, thank heaven he saw your old clothes, just as he was about to look in this washer.”

“My clothes?” Lucy’s face tautened visibly.

“He took them, I’m afraid—and trouble will be bound to follow. We’d better go up and tell Eva just how we’re fixed. Come along.”

They hurried upstairs together, in time to discover Eva just emerging from the bedroom.

“How’s things?” she asked anxiously. “I managed to get Lucy’s room straight in time, but—”

“We’re in trouble,” Buck broke in. “Serious trouble—and I don’t know how long it’ll be before the storm breaks. I’d ring Clem and ask his advice only the lines might be tapped. Better sit tight till morning if we can.”

Meantime Clem was just being aroused by the zealous guard, and much the same routine was followed as at Buck’s house. Clem, a far more wary man than Buck, made no statements at all. He had nothing to fear since his bachelor home was entirely deserted except for himself.

“Can you explain clothes belonging to a period many hundreds of years old being found in Mister Cardew’s kitchen?” the guard asked, as he was about to leave. He jerked at the bag he was carrying.

“How can I?” Clem asked quietly. “Buck Cardew may be my business partner but I don’t know what he does with his private life. You’re wasting your time asking, officer.”

“I never waste my time, Mister Bradley: I’m not allowed to. I am simply giving you the opportunity to explain away a woman with no index-card with whom you and Mister Cardew are definitely connected.”

“If I have anything to explain it will not be to you.”

The guard hesitated, then with a shrug he went on his way. He finished up at the Headquarters Building where he made out his report. There was nothing more he could do now until he could see the Master, and that would not be until morning.

When morning came he presented himself in the great and isolated sanctuary far above the town, clutching his plastic bag. The Master, looking not in the least refreshed after a night’s sleep, eyed him questioningly,

“Reporting investigation into mystery of Worker Ten, Master, as instructed,” the guard explained.

“Ah, yes. I would remark that guards are supposed to be spruce and freshly-shaved. You are a disgrace to your uniform!”

“I apologize, Master. This matter is so very urgent. I have not located the woman we’re seeking, but I did find these articles of feminine apparel in Mister Cardew’s home, pushed into a clothes-basket. The significant thing is that the clothes belong to a period of many centuries ago, so I am at a loss to understand it. See for yourself, Master.”

Eagerly the guard opened the hermetically self-sealed bag top and tipped it upside down over a clear space on the desk. Shaking vigorously he watched for the clothes to tumble out…instead there was a sigh of escaping air—which had caused the bag to retain its shape overnight—and what appeared to be a cloud of dust, which dissipated as the air escaped from the bag. Otherwise the bag was completely empty.

“Well?” The Master raised his eyebrows.

“I—I just don’t understand it, Master! This bag has never left me all night. There was a dress and—and other things, a pair of ancient shoes too, and a belt.…”

Silence. Then the Master sat back in his chair. “I would suggest you shave,” he said, “and then, when you have thoroughly cleared your mind, come back and explain. This kind of work will not do you any good, Officer Sixty-Seven. That is all.”

“But, Master, I tell you—”

“That—is all!”

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PAST IS PRESENT

In the east of the great city the experts in the analytical laboratory were at work. Under intensely powerful lights and surrounded with instruments, they had sections of the steel which had proved faulty in the great Mid-City Bridge, and the more they examined the metal the more puzzled they became.

Barnes, leading technician of the group, finally summed the whole analysis up in one word.

“Age!” he said, and gave a bewildered glance at the men around him.

“That’s what it looks like, but it’s incredible,” declared Forsythe. “This sort of steel, the same as we use on our cannon-ball express train tracks, is tested to the limit and it certainly wasn’t cast more than a hundred-and-fifty years ago. Then there’s been regular overhauling—”

“The fact remains,” Barnes interrupted irritably, “that age is the cause of this trouble. The metal itself has corroded away. It’s like a rotten biscuit inside. Honeycombed and crawling with advanced ferrous oxide decay. That means age no matter how you look at it.”

“And the same thing can be said of that flywheel which burst apart in the power house,” remarked Dawlish, head of the metallurgy branch. “Take a look at this sample: it’s from the flywheel.”

The puzzled but interested men peered at it as it lay in the scientist’s hand, and there was no gainsaying the fact that it had the same ‘honeycomb’ texture as the steel from the bridge. It looked exactly like wood that has been eaten through by white ants.

“Well,” Barnes said at length, “we’ve found the reason even if we can’t explain how it occurred. Only answer I can think of is sabotage. Maybe the Eastern agents are using some kind of electronic device, which rots the composition of metals. We’d better report it to the Master and let him take the responsibility. After all, we’re not magicians.…”

So the Master was informed and brooded, definitely perplexed, over the problem. He had good reason for being worried, for the case of the flywheel and the Mid-City Bridge was not the only one before him for consideration. In more than a dozen places steel had behaved contrary to law. In fact, several buildings had been endangered by the mysterious collapse of some of their supporting girders. The railroads too had experienced two disasters caused by the rotting of certain sections of the rails.

Finally the Master called a conference, in mid-morning, and attending it were all the men charged with keeping law and order throughout the city and the western hemisphere generally. They waited for the tired man at the desk to speak. After surveying his reports, he spoke quietly. “Gentlemen, we have in our midst a group of ruthless saboteurs who are doing their best to wreck our utilities and our morale. What is more, if they keep on successfully practicing their diabolical art, they will succeed in their object. The people, not un-naturally, are raising a storm of protest over these mysterious and dangerous happenings. Somehow we have got to get to the root of this insidious attack and smash the perpetrators!”

“Do you suspect Eastern agent saboteurs, Master?” asked the Chief of A-Law Division.

“I do.” The Master inclined his head. “Since this meeting is strictly secret I can air my views freely without the fear of international repercussions. I suspect the East most strongly, yes, because war with that hemisphere is unpleasantly imminent. The Eastern Government, so our ambassador tells me, is becoming more vociferous every day in its demands for certain illegal claims to be met. However, it would obviously suit them perfectly if we could be thrown into a state of confusion by the subtle wrecking of our lines of communication and the morale of our people. Somewhere agents are at work with scientific equipment that eats away steel. I have reason to suspect one particular woman, but she alone cannot be responsible for such widely spaced incidents. She must be one of hundreds. Use every means in your power to detect these wreckers. We must get this thing stopped!”

With this admonition ringing in their ears, the men departed to their different sectors to formulate plans. All of them were worried, and the Master most of all since his was the major responsibility.

There was also a very worried man to the north of the city, and his troubles were not even remotely connected with steel.

Caleb Walsh was a master-agriculturist. Under his care, Government-controlled, were some thousands of acres of crops and foodstuffs in the raw state. He was also responsible for extra hard beechwood trees, which formed the basis of many things even in this age of metals and plastics. And, at the moment, it was an area of two-hundred beechwood saplings, nurtured by artificial sunlight and fertilizers, which was worrying him. The previous day he had been convinced they were thriving almost too well to be normal. Now, this morning, as he went on his rounds, he was sure of it. At the sound of smashing glass behind him he wheeled round and then fell back, astounded.

Four of the tender saplings had abruptly grown to titanic proportions and smashed their way through the lofty glass roof. It was impossible! Yet it was there.

Walsh went forward slowly, swallowing hard, staring up at the giants rearing through the broken glass. Their side branches, too, had thrust forth incredibly and smashed down all the young trees in the neighboring area.

So much Walsh took in and then he raced for a visiphone and lifted it with a hand that shook. He made a report in a cracked voice to the Controller for Agriculture. The Controller listened sympathetically because it was not the only report he had received that morning. From all parts of the country within a hundred-mile radius of the city, it appeared, news kept coming in of beech trees becoming mysteriously hypertrophied.

There was, for instance, a beech tree at an old-world farm some distance out of town. With his own eyes the astounded owner had seen it rear from a tiny sapling against the moonlight to a mammoth giant overshadowing his house. Being a somewhat old-fashioned man he wondered if, after all, there had been some truth in Jack and the Beanstalk.…

Once again, the Master found himself surrounded by his new set of problems and his face became grayer than ever as he tried to cope with them. That saboteurs could tamper with steel was a logical possibility, but that they could make beech trees grow to fantastic size within a period of minutes was neither logical nor sensible. No agent, surely, would waste time on such a fantastic and pointless diversion?

Inevitably, the facts about the beech trees leaked out, as did the news of collapsing buildings and dissolved railroad tracks. Clem Bradley heard the details when he arrived at the Cardew home in mid-morning. He, Buck, Lucy and Eva all listened to the information being given over the public broadcast.

“At the wish of the Master,” the announcer said, “the public is asked to keep calm in face of mysterious happenings around us. The collapse of the Mid-City Bridge has been followed by other incidents, equally peculiar, in which the steel girders of buildings and the permanent way of a main railroad track have been involved. Analysts are now at work on the problem and a speedy solution is anticipated. Another unusual item, which can hardly have any relation to the odd behavior of steel, is contained in a report from the Agricultural Controller in which he states that certain beechwood trees under his jurisdiction have suddenly assumed gigantic proportions. Various possibilities can be conjectured for these bizarre happenings, and—”

“We’ve more things to do than listen to this,” Buck said briefly, speaking above the announcer’s voice. “Did you manage to get here safely, Clem? You weren’t watched, or anything?”

“Of that I can’t be sure. I’m hoping for the best. Best thing we can do is whip along to the underground site and, once there, we can defy all-comers. I gather you had a visit from our zealous friend the guard during the night?”

Eva grimaced. “We certainly did. Fun and games were had by all.”

“He tackled me too, and got nothing out of it. But he did ask about some old-fashioned clothes, which I suppose were yours, Lucy?”

The girl nodded and Buck gave an anxious glance. “That’s the part I don’t like,” he said. “Once the Master takes a look at those clothes the inquiry will intensify and then we’ll be—”

“The answer to that is to get out while we can,” Clem interrupted. “You’ll have to do without your domestic help, Eva, I’m afraid.”

“Of course,” she assented, unable to disguise her relief at getting Lucy off the premises.

“You’d better get ready, Ancient,” Buck added. “Put on your overalls.”

Lucy nodded and then hurried away. Buck gave a thoughtful glance towards the public speaker. The announcements had now ceased.

“What do you make of things, Clem?” he asked, puzzled. “The queer antics of beech trees, for instance? Surely Eastern sabotage can’t be responsible for that?”

“Hardly,” Clem answered absently, and with an abstracted look in his eyes he watched Eva hand over to Buck one of her own belts.

“This do until I can get you a fresh one later today?” she asked.

“Perfect,” Buck grinned. “Even if I do feel a bit of a she-boy wearing it.”

He buckled it into place about the top of his trousers and Clem watched the proceeding with interest.

“What’s wrong with your own?” he questioned.

“Bust! Rotted away down the back for no reason. It went last night.”

“Oh?” Clem’s expression changed a little, but whatever he was intending to say did not materialize for at that moment Lucy came hurrying back, wrapped in her overalls.

“Right!” Buck said. “Let’s be on our way before it dawns on somebody to try and stop us. What about a car, Clem? Got one fixed?”

“Yes, it’s outside. My compensation claim was allowed right away and I’ve a far better car now than I had before. Come on.”

They took their leave of Eva and hurried outside, glancing to right and left along the traffic-way. There was no sign of official cars, and even less of watchers. They could not know, of course, that officialdom was concerning itself with the departure routes from town, along which people must pass to leave the city. Because of this, pinpointing of a suspect was unnecessary.

So, a little more confident, Clem settled at the car switchboard and started up the power. For the first few miles all went well, then he gave a grim glance at Buck as, ahead, there loomed an armed cordon guarding a barrier. Each autobus or pedestrian going through was being stopped, obviously for presentation of index-cards.

“Hell, we’ve driven right into it,” Buck muttered. “And no way back either,” he added, glancing at the stream of traffic banked up to the rear.

“Have to bluff our way through as best we can, that’s all,” Clem said. “No more than I expected would happen. We’ll get by—somehow.”

As they moved closer to the barrier all hope collapsed.

The guard in charge was the same one they had encountered at their homes during the night, and he was still smarting under the Master’s sarcasm at the unexpected disappearance of a number of feminine garments.

“Oh, you again!” he exclaimed, as he beheld the three in the new autobus. “And you—!” He looked at Lucy.

“Last night you said you were Worker Ten and, so far, you haven’t reported to headquarters to verify that fact. We happen to know that Worker Ten is dead, so what is your explanation?”

“Mistaken identity,” Clem said frankly.

“You mean spying! This woman’s responsible among others for corroding steel, crazy beech trees, rotting leather, and a host of—”

“Rotting leather?” Clem repeated, surprised. “Who told you about his pants’ belt?” and he looked at Buck.

“Pants’ belt?” The guard stared. “I’m talking about my gun-holster strap!” he roared. “Even that isn’t safe from these damned spies! It broke without reason when I was standing right in front of the Master! And this morning, not half an hour ago, my boots broke in two! Better start explaining things, you,” he went on, glaring at Lucy. “There’s some low-down trickery going on and if anybody can say what it’s all about it’s you!”

“But—but I can’t!” Lucy stammered, glancing back nervously as traffic to the rear kept a continuous chorus of siren blowing at the long delay.

“And those clothes I took!” the guard fumed. “They were yours, weren’t they? Weren’t they?”

“Yes—yes,” Lucy agreed nervously.

“I thought so! Then you tell me why they disappeared from their bag without anybody being near them! No clothes can do that ordinarily! I hardly knew it had happened, because being silk they were light, but they went, and I want to know why!”

“I can’t explain it,” Lucy protested. “Honest I can’t.”

The guard narrowed his eves and whipped out his atom-gun. “Out of that car!” he ordered. “All of you. It’s time the Master had a talk with—”

Then Buck’s mighty fist lashed up suddenly and slammed straight into the guard’s face. He howled with pain and went flying backwards, collapsing some six feet away. Without a second’s pause Clem flung in the car switches and sent the vehicle flashing forward.

It whipped through the scattering line of officers clutching at their atom-guns. Within seconds they were left behind. Clinging to the steering-gear Clem stared ahead of him fixedly, dodging around and behind the traffic in front of him. Then at last he managed to merge the vehicle into the swirling tide of autobuses and transports flowing out of the city’s heart.

“I hope you realize what sort of a mess we can get into now,” he panted, glancing at Buck. “We’ll be tracked down for hitting an officer.”

“Give them a run for their money, anyway,” Buck retorted. “Better all three of us get arrested than just Ancient.”

Clem became silent, mainly because he inwardly agreed with his tough, impulsive friend. Lucy herself did not say anything. She sat with tight lips between the two men, realizing more than ever the complicated, dangerous tangle she had plunged into since arriving in 3004.

“Okay, here we go,” Clem said at length, and twisted the car off into a side-alley, thereby joining up with the normal route beyond the sundered bridge. Continuing at the same terrific speed it was not long before he gained the immense underground ramp, which led to the site of the Protection Tower foundations.

Once below, speeding through the long tunnels, all three began to breathe more freely.

“All right so far,” Clem said grimly, clambering out at last. “Get the boys to work, Buck. Just at this moment I’ve got some figuring to do. If it works out right it may save us from the lethal chamber.”

“Eh?” Buck asked blankly. “Figuring? What sort of figuring?”

“Well, let’s say itemizing. I’ll need you to help me, Lucy. Carry on, Buck. I’m staying right here. I want to get any news reports that may come through.”

Though he was clearly bewildered Buck did as he was told. Clem watched him heading away towards the site of operations, then he took the girl’s arm and led her into the portable little building which served as a headquarters. He motioned her to a chair and she sat down.

“Lucy,” he said quietly, regarding her, “I’m forming a most extraordinary theory about you—and it is the fact that it may be right that frightens me.”

“Frightens you?” Lucy’s eyes were wide. “W-why?”

“I have the feeling,” Clem continued, “that some of the amazing things which keep happening may be directly attributable to you. The steel bridge, the beech trees, even Buck’s pants’ belt and the guard’s holster belt.”

“Attributable to me? That’s impossible! Clem, what in the world are you talking about?”

“A scientific possibility,” he replied, musing. “As you know I am a scientist, though I don’t pretend to be an extremely good one. Like all scientists, though, I get ideas and like to work on them. Now, let me do a bit of notating.”

From the desk he picked up a notebook and began to write down various items. Lucy watched as the words appeared under his swift handwriting:

Steel Bridge.

Steel Flywheel.

Steel Building Supports.

Beech Trees.

Leather Belts and Boots (Guard’s)

Silk Clothes.

“What’s all that for?” Lucy enquired.

“I’m just listing the things that have been affected strangely. Tell me, those clothes of which you rid yourself, were they all silk? Every one of them?”

“Yes. Even the stockings.”

“I see. That seems to suggest that—” Clem thought for a moment and then changed the subject. “How many clothes are you wearing now that you wore in your own time?”

“None. Mrs. Cardew supplied everything I’ve got, including undergarments.…”

Clem made a whistling noise with his teeth. “Things are getting awfully complicated,” he said. “If I can only find the right scientific relationship to explain all this I’ll be able to prove to the hilt that you really are a girl from the past. Then the Master will not only believe you, he’ll honor you. I only hope you don’t cause too much trouble in the meantime.”

“Trouble?” Lucy repeated. “But, Clem, the very last thing I want to do is cause trouble to anybody.”

“Not you personally, I don’t mean—but the various things connected with you—”

Clem broke off and glanced towards the civic loudspeaker as it came to life. First came a dreary routine statement of city matters, and then the announcer continued: “A series of incidents, which may be considered either ludicrous or alarming, depending upon how one looks at it, are reported from various centers this morning. Many men and women, for instance, have found themselves suddenly without any footwear, their boots and shoes have either crumpled to powder in certain sections or, in more extreme cases have vanished entirely without explanation! Similar things have happened to men’s and women’s belts and to handbags, briefcases, and even leather trunks.…”

Clem crouched in silence at the desk, listening. Lucy was staring at the loudspeaker as though she were paralyzed.

“A further case is reported of General Brandon Urston who examining our defenses in case of Eastern invasion, found himself with his ray-gun charges, and the charges themselves, lying on the ground. Every supporting belt had gone. From Sector Fifty there is news of a cattle disease. It appears that pigs, cows, hulls, oxen, and various other species of animals are dying. The disease seems to be a form of rapid senility, followed in most cases by actual disintegration, which so far has the veterinary experts and scientists baffled.… Stand by please for Regulation Announcements.”

Clem looked at the girl steadily and her eyes met his in wonder. “Lucy, my dear, you are a very dangerous person,” he said at last. “And the unique thing about it is that you don’t realize it! Let me think! I must get this lot into bright focus before I dare approach the Master.…”

* * * *

On the other side of the world, Leslie Hurst, ambassador for the West, had been summoned to an audience with Lan Ilof, the President of the Eastern Council.

President Ilof was not alone in his office. In the heavy chairs close beside his big desk sat the grim-faced General Zoam and General Niol. They sat eyeing Ambassador Hurst as he came in.

“Do sit down, Ambassador.” The President moved a hand and smiled cordially. “How are you?”

“I can hardly imagine, Mister President, that you sent for me to enquire after my welfare,” Hurst answered. “May I ask that you state your business?”

“It hardly needs a statement, Mister Hurst. More, shall we say, a reiteration? I wish to point out that you have been most dilatory in regard to answering our claim for a half share in the planet Mars.”

“Kindly accept my apologies,” Hurst replied. “It is not that I have been dilatory: I have simply had no statement to make. The Master of our Western peoples has made it perfectly clear, I think, that he will have no part in interplanetary blackmail.”

“How dare you insult the President in that fashion?” demanded General Niol, springing up. “The least the Master of the West can do is make a courteous reply to a demand. He has not even done that!”

“He will hardly consider it necessary when I have conveyed his answer,” Hurst retorted. “Since, gentlemen, we seem to have at last arrived at the point where we are putting our cards on the table, let me state now, unequivocally that the Master of the West will not entertain your claim regarding Mars. Not only is such a claim utterly without foundation, but you do not even produce convincing evidence to support it. Certainly one cannot regard photographs and other supposed records as proof.”

“You have been given an ultimatum,” General Zoam snapped. It should be either accepted or rejected in the normal diplomatic fashion.”

“Ultimatum?” Hurst looked surprised. “When?”

“Now! Surely you of the West are not so dense that you cannot recognize an ultimatum when you get it? In more direct terms, Ambassador Hurst, we either have the Master of the West’s recognition of our legal rights concerning Mars, or else we shall act by force and take what belongs to us. Is that sufficiently plain?”

“You mean war,” Hurst said quietly.

“Exactly,” General Niol retorted. “We suspected from the very start that it would come to it finally—and now it almost has. It is up to the Master of the West whether or not the fuse is lighted.”

Hurst’s eyes shifted to President Ilof. He was sitting in silence, musing. He looked up as Hurst asked a direct question.

“Are you in agreement with war to solve the problem, Mister President? Or do you believe, as I do, that such a step could only end in appalling carnage with nothing achieved by either side?”

“We have nothing to fear,” the President answered, and it was more than obvious he was doing his utmost to avoid offending the Generals on either side of him. “Our armaments are powerful and our cause just. We have no intention of being ruled any longer by the dictates of the West.”

“Even though we are all the essentially the same people? Centuries of intermarriage has eliminated all the racial tensions of the old millennium and brought peace to the Earth. Do you really want to return to that barbaric period in our history? I can’t believe it.”

The President was silent, apparently trying to think of a suitable answer. Then General Niol answered for him. “The sooner you understand, Mister Hurst, that there is no sentiment in the satisfying of legal and rightful claims, the better! We are determined to take half of Mars, either by agreement or by force. Kindly transmit that information to the Master of the West.”

“I would be wasting my time. He has already given his answer—and it is that he will not yield a fraction of Martian territory to you or anybody else.”

The two men of war looked at the President, and he made no attempt to disguise the troubled look upon his face.

“I am sorry, Mister Hurst, deeply sorry, that things have come to this,” he said seriously. “Up to now our relationship has been most cordial, but, as you will appreciate, in matters of interplanetary or international politics, there can be no personal feeling. I personally am deeply sorry to have to ask you to close down your Embassy Office within twenty-four hours and return to your own hemisphere.”

“You mean break off relations?” Hurst asked. “That is the overture to war, Mister President.”

“I am aware of it. You will be given time to arrive home safely. After that force of arms alone can decide the issue.”

Hurst rose, looked at the two grimly satisfied Generals, and then went on his way. The moment he arrived in his headquarters in another section of the Eastern capital city he contacted the Master on the private waveband that was immune from ‘tapping’.

“Master?” he enquired, as the Master’s voice answered. “I am afraid the worst has happened. War is more or less inevitable with the East, and in a very short time. Maybe a week—possibly less. I have been ordered to close down my Embassy office and return to the West in twenty-four hours. Before complete calamity befalls have you any fresh instructions? Any concessions you wish to make?”

“I never make concessions, Ambassador Hurst, and I never reverse my decisions. You will return to here as ordered, and I will handle the situation. Immediate steps will be taken for us to stand by our defenses.”

“Very well, sir,” Hurst answered, sighing to himself, and with that he switched off. Then he turned his attention to collecting his documents and informing his staff of what was intended.

CHAPTER FIVE: VANISHING CARGO

Commander Brian Neil intently watched the directional compass needle and then frowned to himself. Finally he checked it with a subsidiary compass and frowned all the more. There was no doubt about it: the two compasses were completely at variance. One—the normal one—pointed vaguely to the east, whereas it should have pointed directly to the north magnetic pole and acted thereby as a course-finder. The subsidiary one did point in that direction and was behaving according to plan.

“What do you make of this, Mister Swanton?” Neil asked his chief navigator finally.

Swanton came over from surveying the oceanic charts and gave the compass his expert scrutiny. “Main compass broken down, sir,” he replied finally. “Fortunately the subsidiary one seems to be working normally.”

“That compass,” Commander Neil said, “is one of the best products Enzon and Balro have ever turned out, and worth a fortune. Better dismantle it and see what’s wrong. If the subsidiary one goes wrong too we’ll be in a mess.”

“Very good, sir.”

Navigator Swanton went to work with practiced hands, removing the compass from its heavy casement. Meanwhile Commander Neil took over the task of steering the vessel across the wastes of the Atlantic Ocean.

As he gazed out on the deeps, or consulted the multitude of instruments by which he guided the vessel through treacherous cross-currents, Neil smiled to himself, his mind jumping for a moment to the store-room where there reposed crates of electrical machinery and silkworms. He wondered how the Controller of Exports had ever conceived the idea that such a cargo might be stolen or tampered with. It was absurd! Out here in the middle of the ocean no pirate could attack without being seen long before he arrived; and the crew of the vessel was a good one, every man as honest as the sunlight.

“Here’s the trouble, sir,” Swanton said finally, and Neil looked at the bench before him upon which the navigator had laid the ‘insides’ of the compass. The main bearing had completely corroded—it was made of steel—and the sockets into which it was delicately fitted were covered with a fine reddish dust.

“The corrosion of this steel spindle is a real mystery,” Swanton commented. “This sort of steel has a guaranteed life of two-hundred-and-fifty years. The date stamp on this compass is one year ago when the switchboard was refitted. I fancy, sir, that Enzon and Balro are going to develop a lot of gray hairs over this!”

Neil mused for a moment as he looked out onto the heaving ocean.

“Come to think of it,” he said at length, “I’ve heard rumors whilst we were ashore concerning strange behavior by steel—but I never thought it would catch up on our compass like this!”

“Very extraordinary, sir,” the navigator agreed, and set the ruined compass on one side. “I hope our other one doesn’t go the same way!”

That seemed to end the subject, mainly because it was too bewildering a problem to pursue. Neil re-checked the course by the subsidiary compass, and then glanced at the chronometer.

“Take over, Mister Swanton,” he ordered. “My rest period is due.”

“Very good, sir.”

On his way from the bridge to his cabin, Neil paused for a moment by the steel door of the storage-hold and considered. He recalled the puzzling admonition he has received from the Export manager, respecting his cargo.

He half moved on and then hesitated. Might as well satisfy himself. So, using his memory for the combination lock he unfastened it and swung open the, storage-hold door. The hundred cases of electrical machinery and sixty of silkworms were still there. Those containing the machinery had small inspection holes in the sides—and those containing the silkworms had filters so they could breathe.

Neil glanced through the nearest inspection plate on the crates containing machinery. Then he looked again with more urgency. Startled, he peered inside the next crate, and then the next. Thoroughly alarmed he jumped across to where the crates of silkworms stood and the answer was even more startling. There was only one thing to do to satisfy himself, and he did it. He wrenched the lids from the nearest crates and then let them fall with a clatter, his senses completely stunned by the vision of a pile of completely broken and jumbled components smothered in rust in the machinery crates. As for the silkworms, these crates were completely empty. Not a vestige, not a trace!

Aware of the recent international tensions, his mind revolved round spies, saboteurs, even plain unvarnished magic; then commonsense stepped in and took charge. Returning to the bridge control-room he had the freighter stopped so that the engineers could leave their posts. Then, with the few others essential to the crew, he had them assemble in the bridge.

“I am not going to beat about the bush, men,” he said, coming straight to the point. “I am going to give the culprit amongst you the chance to confess and save a lot of trouble. To state the matter briefly, a consignment of machinery and silkworms, our cargo for Brazil, has been broken and corroded into useless junk in the case of the machinery, whilst the silkworms have vanished completely. The crates have apparently not been opened, but the contents have nevertheless been tampered with or removed completely. As far as I know I am the only person with the combination of the storage-room door, but obviously someone else has gained knowledge of that combination. Now, which of you is going to speak?”

Nobody did. They looked completely astonished. It was noteworthy that not a single man had an angry look. Commander Neil was too much respected for any member of his crew to show open resentment.

“If I might say something, sir?” asked Andrews, the first mate.

“Well?” Neil barked.

“What man would want silkworms, and what man could destroy machinery without being heard and apprehended? The very idea of it is absurd, sir—meaning no disrespect.”

“There are ways of doing so, Andrews, if the occasion warrants it,” Neil snapped.

“I don’t see how such a thing could happen, sir,” Swanton remarked. “Both consignments were safely in the vessel when we disembarked: you told me you’d checked on them. That could only mean the depredations and theft took place whilst we were in mid-ocean. And that is equally impossible. No vessel has been anywhere near us to take off stolen cargo, and for one of us to remove the silkworms from their crates and throw them overboard simply doesn’t make sense.”

“True,” Neil admitted, thinking, for fortunately he was not an obstinate man. He was always ready to listen to anything reasonable when a problem baffled him.

“Do I understand, sir, that the crates themselves have not been disturbed?” Swanton continued.

“Correct. From the look of them the crates themselves have not been disturbed. Theoretically, of course, it is possible to remove an object from inside another by fourth dimensional processes, and in this scientific era I am willing to believe that it could be done. An experienced spy might have knowledge enough to do it.”

“I don’t agree, sir,” Swanton said. “A spy would never trouble to be so complicated. If he knew the combination of the storage-hold door he would most certainly get rid of the cargo by dispatching it somewhere in the crates. You have entirely the wrong angle, or so I think.”

Neil frowned and moved to the starboard outlook, gazing out for a time over the rolling ocean. Finally he turned.

“Mister Swanton.…”

“Sir?”

“Take Mister Carlton with you and search the ship. The cargo may be concealed somewhere. The rest of you men stay here until the search is completed.”

The order was promptly obeyed, and for close on twenty minutes Swanton and Carlton, the chief engineer, were absent. When they came back they merely shrugged their shoulders.

“Not a trace, sir,” Swanton said. “And if I may say so the concealment of large amounts of live silkworms is hardly an easy task.”

“I’ll be made to look about the biggest fool in the service, when I radio my report back to my employers,” Neil declared bitterly. “To continue to Brazil now is useless since we haven’t a cargo to deliver! And what sort of a story am I to tell them back home? That the cargo was trashed or vanished from under my very nose without any explanation?”

“There must be an explanation,” Swanton muttered, his brows knitted.

“Then I’d be glad if you’d find it for I certainly can’t. All right, men, back to your posts. We’re returning to Bristol immediately, and I warn you there will be a most rigid enquiry. That consignment was of extreme value. Take over, Mister Swanton. I am still entitled to sleep even if the damned cargo does disappear!”

And, fuming with anger, Neil followed the baffled crew from the bridge. Before heading for his cabin he detoured to the radio room and made his report.

And, like all similar odd reports it was subsequently transmitted to the office of the Master, and became one more story in an accumulating pile of them that just cried out for a sensible answer.

The Master, in fact, sifted these stories and reports for the best part of the following morning. Amongst them was the report from Commander Neil explaining that his cargo of machinery had been destroyed, and that of silkworms had vanished without trace. He was willing to resign the service in disgrace because he just could not explain the mystery.

“The problems are not isolated,” the Master muttered to himself. “Therein lies the mystery of it all. Steel supports have collapsed in countless places, and machinery and vital instruments containing steel have rotted and fallen apart. Then there are numerous instances of silk garments that have rotted and developed holes or disappeared altogether. On top of that is corroding leather, dying animals that subsequently disappear leaving only bones, warps in beechwood and devastating increase in the size of some beech trees.…” He drew a hand over his face wearily as he looked at the reports. “All this cannot be the work of spies, surely?”

He sat for a long time, thinking, turning the mystery over in his mind, but scientist though he was even he could not work without a known premise or fact from which to start. So, gradually, his thoughts drifted back to one recollection—that of the guard who had found clothes belonging to a period many centuries earlier, and then had discovered their entire disappearance. And they had belonged to a woman who had not been identified, and Clem Bradley and Buck Cardew possibly knew a good deal about her.

His face grim the Master flicked a switch and spoke. “Find Boring Engineers Bradley and Cardew at the Protection Tower site and order them to come here without delay. If they refuse, use force. And with them bring, if possible, a woman worker whom they are shielding.”

“Yes, Master.”

The information was promptly passed to the appropriate quarter, and it happened to be Guard 67 who was on duty when the order came through. So far he had not reported that he had been hit in the face and that Cardew, Clem and the mystery girl had got away from him: he didn’t wish to take the risk on top of having already failed to produce the clothes after the song he had made about them. But this new order looked like his supreme chance to clean matters up. His eyes narrowed, he gave orders to his men and promptly went into action.

In consequence he and his fellow guards appeared suddenly in the underground workings of the Protection Tower, towards the close of the afternoon. Clem and Buck were not expecting such a thing to happen and were overpowered before they could make an attempt to save themselves.

“What the devil’s the idea?” Clem demanded hotly. “Or don’t you know I’m in charge down here?”

“Not as far as the law is concerned,” the guard answered, with a sour glance. “I’ve been waiting for a chance like this, Mister Bradley, to even up the score—and now I’ve got it! Where is that woman you brought with you?”

“What woman?” Buck asked innocently.

“You know perfectly well! The one who was with you in your autobus this morning.”

“Suppose you try and find out?” Clem suggested. “She is quite innocent of any crime, no matter what the law thinks or does—and she’ll stay safely hidden. Understand?”

“You’re a fool,” Guard 67 said. “She’ll be found! Search the place,” he added to his men.

Clem gave Buck a significant glance. The girl, concealed in a high niche of the wilderness of working, was not likely to even be seen, let alone captured, and the boys on the job would see that she was kept safe and well provisioned since they were completely loyal to their two bosses.

“All right, let’s be on our way,” the guard snapped at last. “We can’t hang about forever. Get a move on, you two! For the time being you can consider yourselves under arrest, by order of the Master.”

He led the way to the official autobus in the tunnel and in a few minutes it was whirling them through the city again. So, at length, Clem and Buck found themselves in the austere presence of the Master.

“You may go,” he told the guards; then his thin hand reached out and pressed a button so that the entire interview might be recorded for later play-back and study.

“Sit down, gentlemen,” he invited, and both men looked surprised.

“I was given to understand by the guard, sir, that we are prisoners,” Clem remarked.

“Guard Sixty-Seven is hardly a man of discernment, Mister Bradley,” the Master answered dryly. “You are not prisoners—yet. I simply wish to ask you a few questions, and you will be good enough not to be evasive with your answers. There are limits to my patience with the number of problems I have on my mind.”

Clem sat down slowly and so did Buck, his big jaw jutting obstinately.

“Now.…” The Master relaxed in his chair, “what is your explanation, gentlemen, for shielding a woman from the authorities because she has no index-card? What is this mystery woman’s connection with mysterious acts of sabotage which began from the time she was first noticed?”

Clem hesitated for a long moment, then he said deliberately, “That woman, Master, is named Lucy Denby. She came from the year 2009.”

“I warned you, Mister Bradley, that my patience is wearing thin. To the point, please!”

“That is the truth, sir. And it is because she has come from 2008 that so many queer things keep happening.”

“I can understand that she is probably at the back of the many mysterious incidents besetting us, but I certainly do not believe that she comes from a time of a thousand years ago. Our best scientists have proven time travel—in a physical form at least—to be impossible.”

“I am aware of it, Master, but you would not deny that a person could, by scientific means, be physically suspended for a thousand years and awaken in perfect health, would you?”

“Well—no.” The Master frowned. “You mean this woman slept for almost a thousand years?”

“She didn’t exactly sleep. Because of entropy being fully created she leapt the time-gap without being aware that she had leapt it.”

The Master made a weary movement. “Mister Bradley, I am a very tired man, and I am in no mood to ponder such outrageous theories at the moment. This much I will tell you—then you may realize the seriousness of your behavior. Our ambassador to the East informs me that Eastern invasion is imminent within a day or two. This hemisphere of ours is faced by an onslaught from the most efficient scientific armada in history, and it is horribly possible that we may be utterly defeated. The West is riddled with spies, of which this woman—who has evidently fooled you into thinking she is a denizen of a thousand years ago—is a particularly blundering example. Only since her appearance has steel developed such grave faults, a vital ingredient of our infrastructure and armaments. Beechwood, and beech trees, leather—those, too, have been queerly affected, obviously by atomic control. I remain convinced this woman can explain the mystery even if she did not actually participate in the sabotage. I would also ask her, could I find her, how she, or her contemporaries, destroyed a valuable cargo of machinery and silkworms from a freight vessel at sea. Silk is also being treated strangely, Mister Bradley, and of course it is a valuable armament ingredient, apart from its use for clothing—”

“That’s it—silkworms!” Clem cried in excitement. “That fits in! I do believe my theory is right!”

The Master frowned. “What theory?”

“I’ve been working one out, sir, and I needed a few more factors to make it fit. And now I think it does! But first may I ask if you will please at least listen to the story of this woman, and how I came to discover her in a sealed globe.”

“Proceed,” the Master invited, and half-closed his eyes in order to concentrate.

“As I see it,” Clem said, when he had outlined the earlier details of the finding of Lucy in the force-globe, “that scientist, Bryce Fairfield, forgot something, and it was this: If you place anything organic or inorganic in a field of non-time you destroy the entropy. Everything in the bubble was stopped dead in its tracks. No entropy went on at all, but each article in the bubble gave off the energy that we recognize as entropy. Therefore the energy was still there, but imprisoned.”

“And so?” the Master asked.

“For a thousand years,” Clem continued, “a girl in silk clothes lay on a steel table. She was cradled about the head and shoulders in a beechwood rack and fastened down by heavy leather straps. All these things I noticed when I first saw her through the globe. You begin to understand, sir? For a thousand years the energy of everything about her was emanated, but it could not escape. Entropy was there but held stagnant. Hence, when the globe was finally shattered the energy of entropy-change went forth in an overpowering wave and sought out the original atomic formation from which it had sprung, just as a river takes the shortest route to the sea. It had to do so in order to catch up on the predestined entropy intended for those particular formations.

“So, Master, steel in the Mid-City Bridge went soft because of extreme age and the strain it was taking. It affected the steel of my brake pedal also. Why? Because the steel that formed the girl’s table came from the same ores that were later used to make a bridge. Metals, like human beings, exist in groups from a parent set of ores—but the parts of the bridge made from a different set of ores were unaffected. Everything connected with the girl suddenly became a thousand years old! Beech trees shot up to a thousand years of growth because those particular trees were direct descendants of the tree from which the head cradle had been made.

“Leather disappeared because it was made from the skin of animals whose ancestors had provided the leather for the straps and the belt on the girl’s frock. Live animal ancestors also suddenly became a thousand years old. It would operate through the line of descendants and relationship each time, though there was no exact moment of dissolution which could be pinpointed, it depending on how long the energy took to level out. Hence the girl retained her clothes for quite a while before they disappeared. I understand that Guard Sixty-Seven tried to give you the girl’s clothes and found they had gone. Since he hadn’t noticed their disappearance—or rather detected a decrease in the weight of the bag—it is possible that they vanished at the very moment he tried to produce them.

“Even silkworms vanished,” Clem finished. “They were the remote ‘descendants’ of the silkworms which had created the silk for the girl’s dress. Entropy caught up, right through the line again, evolved them over a thousand years and they consequently vanished. Consider the untold millions of silkworms which must have evolved in the interval, from the original progenitors, and it will be seen that very few silkworms could escape being involved, which is why all of them vanished on the transatlantic ship. Let us hope that the entropy balance will soon be reached and the disasters besetting us will cease.”

The Master was silent for nearly three minutes when Clem had finished speaking, so much so it appeared that he had gone to sleep. Apparently such was not the case for at last he stirred. “I accept the explanation, Mister Bradley,” he said. “I have been deliberating the various scientific issues and I see nothing which is at variance with logic—at least as far as the various articles connected with this woman are concerned. As you say, let us hope that the energy will soon find its level and that our troubles may cease. I think, however, that you neglected a factor in your otherwise excellent hypothesis.”

“And what is that, sir?”

“What of the woman herself? Why has not entropy caught up with her? Since the various articles and garments connected with her have disappeared, and their entropy been transmitted down a direct descending line, is it not possible that this woman, too, will be involved?”

“That,” Clem admitted, “is a thought which has worried me quite a deal, sir, but so far nothing has happened to her.”

“That does not imply that it will not do so later. Her energy must have been given off and transmitted through—” The Master sat up abruptly. “Had she any descendants? Progeny?” he asked, his eyes sharpening.

“A son, sir.” Clem’s expression changed too as he suddenly realized the implications. “Great heavens! The deaths of cattle have proven that entropy reacts through organic bodies as it does through inorganic substances. That means that all those connected with her, in a descending line, will find entropy catching up on them!”

“Yes. And she herself will vanish,” the Master added. “She must, because, by the law of entropy, she is nearly a thousand years old! My conception of the problem is that so far this woman’s entropy has not found its level, therefore none of her descendants has been affected, or she either. But once the level is found.…”

Silence dropped, and Clem and Buck exchanged glances of dismay.

“It also depends,” the Master continued, “on whether or not her son married and had issue—and on whether they in turn also married. So far nothing has happened since no mysterious deaths have been reported anywhere. I think we cannot do better than look through the records and see if we can trace this woman and her family. Her name is—what?”

“Lucy Denby,” Clem answered, thinking, “and she was married round about 2007 to a Reginald Denby, salesman, or something.”

“I will see what I can trace.”

Obviously disturbed by this new possibility the Master reached out to a switch, and then he paused, looking at his hand. Normally it was a tanned and thin, but now it was a deathly white with the veins etched in a vivid blue tracery. He looked at his other hand sharply and found it similarly afflicted.

“Strange,” he murmured, preoccupied with this metamorphosis. “Very strange.”

Buck gripped Clem’s arm tightly, but Clem had no need of this to apprehend the sudden change that had come over the Master. His face was dissolving into a mass of seams and lines. He seemed now to be unable to move, held in the grip of the astounding metabolism suddenly coursing through him. Heat was spreading from him as his life-energy took a mighty surge forward. With the passing seconds his iron-gray hair became white: then he was bald!

“Great cosmos,” Buck whispered, transfixed.

“Must—trace—records—” the Master whispered; then his face caved in and his hands shrank to bony claws. He spoke no more words, but the look in his dying eyes was of one who tries to understand and cannot. They dimmed to burned-out coals. His skinny, fleshless frame flopped to the desk. Nor did it stay there. Vast age crumbled his bones to dust and an empty suit of clothes dropped to the floor.

“He’s—gone,” Clem gulped, his jaw lolling in stupour.

Buck could not find any words for the moment—then the private loudspeaker on the late Master’s desk suddenly burst into life.

“Emergency Communication to the Master! An unexpected wave of senility is sweeping the world! Particularly severe within a hundred miles’ radius. Isolated instances in remoter areas. Please advise.”

Clem jumped up, then in a passable imitation of the Master’s voice he said briefly: “Later!” Switching off again he turned a scared face to Buck.

“Naturally you’ve grasped what’s happened?” he asked. “Presumably the very thing the Master was discussing has happened! Lucy’s entropy is beginning to work through her line of descendants. We certainly don’t need to hunt through the records to see if her son married and had children. The Master must have been a descendant, too, however remotely. Come to think of it, in a thousand years, the descendants of one person might run into tens of thousands—”

“No might about it,” Clem snapped. “The fact that people in all walks of life have suddenly started dying is proof of it. What’s worrying me is whether we’ll find Lucy herself alive anymore! Maybe she’s vanished like the things she was wearing.”

“To me there’s a bigger worry,” Buck retorted. “How do we explain the disappearance of the Master? We are known to be the last people to see him alive—the guard will verify that—and I’m getting cold all over thinking what the law will do when it investigates.”

Clem got to his feet and looked at the clothes on the floor.

“For the moment,” he said, “those clothes will, I hope baffle those who find them. Our only chance is to walk out of here as though nothing had happened and get back quick to the underground where we’ll think up what comes next. Come on.”

CHAPTER SIX: THE PAST IS PRESENT

To get safely out of the official building was not particularly difficult since it was assumed by the guards, number sixty-seven amongst them, that the Master had released Clem and Buck from audience and allowed them to go on their way, and they reached the underground workings safely and, to Clem’s intense relief, Lucy was still where she had been left, high up amidst the rockery and effectively screened. She listened in silent amazement to the story Clem had to tell.

“Then what happens now?” she asked anxiously.

“I don’t dare to think,” Clem groaned. “Once the disappearance of the Master is discovered trouble is going to come our way with a capital T. That guard, number sixty-seven, is a particularly vindictive specimen who’ll shift heaven and earth to make capital out of this.”

“It all seems so queer,” Lucy mused. “That so many people are dying because of me. Even queerer that the Master of this amazing world should be a descendant of mine! I don’t know whether to feel proud or—or revolted! Queer too that steel and all the rest of it should be wiped out in so many places because I happened to be wearing them at the time. Why don’t I disappear then? I should, surely, if everything is to hang together?”

“That is a possibility even yet,” Clem said quietly, and searched her face. He read no fear there: only that same look of bewilderment that had been hers ever since the rescue from the entropy globe.

“Well, if it comes to it,” she said seriously, “I shan’t even have the chance to thank you for all you’ve done—you and Buck and Eva, so I’ll thank you now, just in case. I also apologize most sincerely for having thrown a good-sized spanner into the works of 3004.”

Clem gave a fleeting smile as he patted her hand, and then he became serious again. “I only hope this entropy business doesn’t work out to its logical conclusion in your case, Lucy, because I’ve more than a liking for you—as you may have noticed.”

“I’ve noticed,” she assented, smiling. “But you’ve forgotten, surely, that I’m a misfit? The odd girl out? And, anyway, I’m a thousand years behind the times.”

“That doesn’t signify to me. What I want to do, if some scientific miracle spares your dissolution, is to prove to the world what I proved to the Master—that you are a helpless victim in need of assistance and not condemnation. I did prove it to him, and he accepted the theory. Then he had to die before he could speak! It’s damnable. It puts us right back where we started, but with the added burden of knowing that the Master is dead—”

“Hey, listen to that radio,” Buck interrupted, making his way amidst the rockery. “If it doesn’t smell like trouble I don’t know what does!”

Clem and the girl listened, and so did the working crew in the great open space below. The words from the speaker came through with a powerful echo.

“Attention all listeners! The Master has disappeared! No trace of him can be found, and the only clue is his clothes on the floor of his office, obviously left there by his abductors. We need no further proof that spies are at work and this is their supreme and most audacious move. War with the East is imminent, according to private papers, which the Master had in his possession—so imminent indeed that Leslie Hurst, our ambassador, is already on his way home. The move of abducting the Master is plain. Without him, and his guiding genius we cannot possibly survive in the struggle with the East that is to come!

“Attention all listeners! To round up every spy in the Western organization here in the West is obviously impossible. We have already tried and made little headway—but it is known that one of these spies is being shielded by Clement Bradley and his partner ‘Buck’ Cardew at the foundation site of the Protection Tower—which Tower, incidentally, should have been erected by now if it is to be of service in defeating the invaders. The delay in constructing the foundations is now shown as obviously intentional. Further—a vital fact—it is known that the two last people to be present with the Master before his mysterious disappearance were Bradley and Cardew. Find them at the Protection Tower site—and find the woman with them—then we shall have the answer to many of our problems. One hostage, in the form of this woman, may do much to deter Eastern onslaught. All of you, men and women, wherever you may be, have freedom to act as you see fit in bringing these traitors to account.”

“I wouldn’t be sure of it,” Buck said, “but that sounded like the voice of Guard Sixty-Seven, taking a great deal of authority unto himself!”

“It was Sixty-Seven,” Clem confirmed. “As for him taking authority unto himself, he wouldn’t dare without the sanction of the Council over which the Master ruled. The only explanation is that he must have told them he has special knowledge regarding us, so they’ve put him in charge of the situation for the moment. Far as we’re concerned, the people will be out to get us—particularly as the news of imminent war has now been broken.”

“We’ll fight it out,” Buck decided. He got to his feet and called to the assembly of men gathered in the space below. “Hey, boys! You heard that broadcast? You willing to fight it out against the mob?”

The steel-helmeted heads nodded and one of them called back: “Sure thing, Buck! We’ll give them a run for their money if they come down here!”

“All right then—scatter to convenient positions and use the blast-guns as weapons,” Buck ordered. “That ought to let ’em see we mean business.”

“I think this is a waste of time,” Clem said frankly. “I know the blast-guns can wreak a tremendous amount of havoc—massacre if you like—but it won’t stop a determined people who think we’ve sold them into defeat against the East. If anything it’ll only make our case all the blacker because it will look as though we really are guilty if we try and defend ourselves.”

“That’s s right,” Lucy assented, clinging to Clem’s arm. “Honest, Buck, I think Clem’s got the right idea.”

“Then you’re both crazy!” Buck snorted. “If you’re both so chicken-hearted that you intend to let yourselves be taken without a struggle, I’m not. Don’t you realize what it will mean when the mob gets you? Law will be thrown overboard. Many will revert to type and maybe you’ll even be lynched. In fact, if Sixty-Seven is controlling things for the moment I’m more than sure you will be!”

“No.” Clem shook his head. “Even Sixty-Seven would not dare go that far: the Council would prevent it. My idea is to let ourselves be taken and then prove the truth of what did happen to the Master, and his acceptance of my theory concerning Lucy.”

“Oh, talk sense, can’t you!” Buck cried. “We can never prove what happened in that office—”

“Yes we can,” Clem interrupted. “Providing it’s still there, that is, and I’m hoping it will be. Don’t you remember that when our interview with the Master began he switched on a recording apparatus so our entire conversation could be taken down. When I’d finished he switched it off.”

“Yes, that’s true, but—” Buck scratched his neck. “But that doesn’t explain the Master’s disappearance!”

“It would to the more intelligent members of the Council, because the Master himself put forward the theory that any descendants of Lucy might be affected. The Council will couple together the disappearance of the Master with the other cases of senility sweeping the world and that will clear things up. Finally, the Master’s acceptance of Lucy as a woman of a thousand years ago will be taken as correct for it has always been said that the Master was never wrong in a scientific verdict.”

“It’s a chance, of course,” Buck admitted, “but I’d much prefer some kind of tangible action, instead of just pinning our hopes on a possibility like that. Seems too flimsy a thing to hope for, and if Sixty-Seven has destroyed that spoken record, what then? He had obviously been examining the Master’s papers and—”

“He wouldn’t,” Clem interrupted. “Damn it, man, Sixty Seven is only an officer guard: he wouldn’t dare probe that much. It would be the officiating members of the Council who’d do that, and I’m hoping that they didn’t think of starting up the recording machine. Or on the other hand, if they did—or do—our problem may be solved for us.”

Buck, clearly, was still not completely convinced, but before he could pursue the argument any further there came the gathering sound of voices in the underworld and the noise of advancing feet. Down below, the grimy, set-faced engineering crew maneuvered the powerful blast-guns into prearranged positions and crouched before the sights watching for the first appearance of the invaders.

Suddenly the first hastily armed civilians appeared and at the same moment Buck let out a mighty yell.

“Hold your fire, boys! Hold it!”

Men and women, in twos and threes and then in groups, followed by armed members of the police, came drifting down, into the workings. There seemed to be no end to them as they congregated, filling up the tunnels that led into the great space.

Then, from amongst them, Sixty-Seven became visible. He had his gun in his hand and appeared almost disappointed that he had no occasion to use it.

“Better come down from there, Bradley!” he called. “You too, Cardew; and that woman you’ve got with you. Glad you know when you’re beaten.”

“Don’t think you’re standing there untouched because I want it!” Buck shouted. “If I’d have had my way you’d be blasted to powder by now—but my partner here is more sentimental, or crazy. I haven’t decided which.”

“Come down!” Sixty-Seven ordered. “And hurry it up.”

There was nothing else for it. Buck led the way down the rocky slope from the high niche, and Clem came after him, holding on to Lucy’s arm. Sixty-Seven eyed her fixedly as she came forward.

“Chief spy for the Easterners, eh?” he asked dryly. “I’ve been quite a while catching up on you, young woman, but I’ll make up for lost time now I’ve started. I don’t suppose there can be a lower form of life than a dirty female spy who sells herself to the East—” Sixty-Seven did not get any further. Buck lashed out with all the power of his massive right arm. The iron knuckles struck the guard clean in the mouth, splitting his lip and spinning him back against the rocks.

“Good,” Buck grinned, palming his throbbing knuckles. Now I feel better! Shoot me down if you like and I’ll die happy.”

Probably his suggestion would have been adopted had Sixty-Seven been alone—but he was not, and even he realized that ruthless shooting amongst so many witnesses would not stand him in very good stead as an officer of the law.

“All right,” he said thickly, straightening up and dabbing at his bleeding- mouth. “I’ll not forget that, Cardew! That’s the second time you’ve hit me in the course of my duty and I’ll see the Council hears of it— Now get on your way, all three of you. You’ve a lot to explain.”

In a close-knit trio the three started walking, followed and partly surrounded by the mob. The engineers were left behind since there was no legal claim against them. So at length the journey through the tunnels was ended and the march to the city center began. There was no other way of covering the distance since so many people made vehicular transportation impossible.

Then gradually it dawned on Clem at least that the route was not leading towards the great building where stood the headquarters of the Council and, at its summit, the office of the late Master. Instead the mob was moving in the direction of one of the biggest public lecture halls.

“What’s the idea?” Clem asked Sixty-Seven sharply, as he paced along, smothering his bleeding mouth. “Where are we going?”

“The City Hall, where proper justice can be meted out,” came the muffled response. “This isn’t a matter for the Council to decide, Bradley: it’s up to the people. They are the ones who have been betrayed, not the Council.”

“As a citizen I demand the Council chamber!” Clem cried in fury. “You can’t take the law into your own hands like this!”

“I’m not doing it. I’m obeying the orders of the people because I’m a public servant. If you don’t like it complain to the people who now have you in their midst.”

Clem looked about him but he said nothing. It was possible that Sixty-Seven was correct, and that he dare not cross the will of the incensed multitude. Whatever the answer the journey ended within the mighty City Hall, which was already packed to capacity. And the capture of the trio had evidently been considered a foregone conclusion for on the rostrum usually reserved for lecturers there now sat three men. Clem and Buck both recognized them as they were bundled along with Lucy in their midst. They were the three whose finances helped to build the city’s prosperity—not members of the Governing Council as such, but certainly capable of wielding a tremendous influence in public affairs.

Chairs had been roughly placed to form a ‘dock’ for the three prisoners and here they were directed and then left. For a long time there was the shuffle of feet and scraping of chairs as guards and public alike took their seats, the overflow of men and women straining at the doors.

“Doesn’t look too damned healthy for the recorder in the Master’s office,” Buck murmured bitterly, as Clem stood beside him. “You’d have done better to let me have my way. At least we’d have blasted about three-hundred out of existence and that would have been something.”

“It would only have condemned us all the more,” Clem muttered. “Don’t be so infernally violent in your aims!”

“In this court,” declared the centermost man suddenly, “there will be no attempt to follow the pedantry of the law because we are not a legally constituted body. We are a court of the people, convened by the people, and the decision we reach shall be that of the people.”

“If this is not a legally constituted court you have no legal right to try us,” Clem retorted. “As a citizen I therefore demand liberty—or, failing that, a proper hearing before the Council.”

“The Council is not concerned with this matter,” the impromptu ‘judge’ answered. “It is so long since a crime of any importance happened that normal courts do not exist anymore—as you should know. Hence this hastily-devised one to try you three on the serious charge of international sabotage and abduction of the Master of the West!”

“And if you arrive at the decision that we are guilty, who is going to pronounce sentence?” Clem asked. “None of you has the right to do it.”

“It is not a question of having the right, Mister Bradley. The issue is up to the people. To the most vital point first: where is the Master?”

“Dead—of old age,” Clem snapped.

A murmur went through the people and the three men on the rostrum looked at each other questioningly; then the centermost turned to face Clem again.

“I hope, Mister Bradley, you are not going to be so foolish as to use the present all-prevailing senility as an excuse for your behavior? The Master couldn’t have died of old age. Such a thing is not even possible. He has been hidden somewhere, was probably removed under heavy disguise which accounts for his clothes being left behind.”

Clem breathed hard. “If I were to explain this matter in full detail I would only be derided by you and the people, because it involves a most complicated scientific theory—but the Master understood it, and accepted it. Will you be content to base your decision on the Master’s own conclusions?”

“So you mean to restore him from—wherever you have hidden him?”

“Nothing of the kind. The Master is extinct, dying of age so great that even his body turned to dust. However, he recorded the interview Mister Cardew and I had with him, and to the best of my knowledge that recording is still in his office if I could be allowed to obtain it.”

“That’s only fair, surely?” Buck demanded.

“You have overlooked the fact that you are prisoners,” the ‘judge’ snapped, “and such a request as you have made cannot be granted. In any case we have no guarantee that the recording to which you refer would prove genuine. Since the abduction of the Master must obviously have been planned in detail long ago, there would be nothing to prevent scientists faking a recording purporting to belong to the Master. Nothing would be easier than to leave it in his office at the time of the abduction, to be used later as so-called proof of innocence. I, and the people, can well understand how essential it is that you three should escape justice since you are obviously the cleverest spies in the entire Eastern organization—”

“We’ve nothing to do with the Eastern organization!” Buck roared in fury. “Why can’t you three men up there use some commonsense? Any man, or woman, no matter what their crime, is entitled to use every available form of evidence to prove innocence. That’s all we’re asking for.”

“And it is not granted!” the ‘judge’ retorted.

“Who says it isn’t?” a voice asked coldly—and immediately attention was distracted from the ‘judge’ to a man at the back of the hall. Somehow he had reached one of the higher windows and evidently entered thereby. At the moment he stood against the empty top balcony, using its ledge upon which to rest the heavy barrel of a blast-gun. His steel helmet and grimy face immediately betrayed where he had come from.

“The boys!” Buck cried in delight, glancing about him to behold other engineers from the foundation site at different parts of the balcony, their blast-guns poised. “They’ve followed us up.”

“That’s right, Buck,” agreed the one who had first spoken. “Since you’d been taken away by the people we decided to see that the people gave you a fair deal—and at the moment they don’t seem to be doing so—”

“Get those men from that balcony!” the ‘judge’ shouted in fury. “Whose negligence allowed them to get in, anyway?”

“Not a matter of negligence,” responded the spokesman engineer. “Everybody’s so confoundedly busy trying to crush into this place that nobody’s about in the city—and certainly nobody was guarding this building. We just went round the back of it and climbed up to the first story. Now—how about letting the three prisoners have a fair hearing?”

“Waste of time,” Clem called. “Even if the record was produced they’d say it was faked.”

The engineer considered, his sharp eyes glancing to his comrades at the ready along the balcony, their guns aimed.

“All right,” he said. “In that case you’d better go—whilst you’re safe. We’ll cover you.”

The people jumped to their feet in fury, then they hesitated as Clem spoke to them.

“Better look at this thing sensibly,” he warned. “I invented the blast-guns these engineers are using and I warn you their power is sufficient to mow down everybody in this hall. Better give us a safe passage if you wish to stay in one piece.”

“And where do we go?” Buck murmured.

“To the Master’s office,” Clem whispered. “The highest point in the city and easy to defend against most comers. Right, let’s risk it.”

“I’m going to let the boys know where we’re going,” Buck said. “They can be of tremendous help to us with those blast guns— Follow us to the Master’s office, boys!” he yelled, and then hurried after Clem and Lucy as they got on the move.

Under the circumstances there was nothing the people could do with the deadly blast-guns threatening them. Even without the warning Clem had given them they knew the power of the guns because the news announcements had been full of the details at the time Clem had secured his Government contract.

“You can’t possibly get away with this!” Guard Sixty-Seven shouted angrily. “Even less so since you’ve told us where you’re going! What are you people scared of?” he demanded, wheeling round. “Don’t you realize they’re getting away? Those men with the blast-guns can’t get all of us! Come on!”

Pretty well sure of his safety because he was so hemmed in by the people around him Sixty-Seven plunged in the wake of the departing trio and, moved by his example, the people also started to push and shove. The spokesman-engineer watched the proceedings for a moment, his keen eyes to the sights of his blast-gun.

“I never did like that guard,” he muttered. “Too much to say for himself—”

Abruptly the guard became visible in the sight for a second or so and the engineer instantly pressed the button. A shaft of violet flame stabbed down from the balcony and struck Sixty-Seven straight in the back. He howled in sudden anguish and then dropped flat on his face, the people around him recoiling hastily and staring over their shoulders, upwards to where the engineer stood.

“Just to warn you,” he shouted. “If you dare follow those three you know what you’ll get! Now get back before I give the order for every gun to be used.”

By this time Clem, Buck and Lucy had reached the main doorway at a slithering run. They glanced back quickly over their shoulders.

“The boys are pinning ’em,” Buck exulted. “Quick! With things like this we may just make it to the Master’s office, and if we get that far there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get the Council to listen to us later. If they won’t listen, then we’ll barricade ourselves in until they do.”

“And use what for food?” Clem questioned. “Anyway, we’ll sort that out later— Ready for a sprint, Lucy? Here we go.”

Helping the girl between them they hurried out into the main street and, as the engineer had said, it was almost empty of people, most of them having congregated in the vast public hall. What few there were glanced after the scurrying trio but paid no more attention—and since the guards within the public hall were unable to send advance warning to the main headquarters building there was no danger in this direction at the moment, either.

“We’d better take the back entrance and use the service lift,” Clem said quickly, when at last they had reached the broad avenue leading to the rear of the vast building. “We’re not so liable to be questioned.”

Buck nodded, not letting up for a moment in his run. The main doorway to the rear was gained and so was the lift marked STAFF ONLY, which at this period was empty.

“Done it,” Clem panted, slamming across the grille and pushing in the button. “We’ll think out later what we do next.”

To Lucy the journey to the top of the vast edifice seemed interminable and every moment she was expecting the lift to stop, halted by some official order or other, but nothing happened—and at last there was a click as the ascent finished and the lift gates automatically opened on to an opulent corridor. Here indeed were the sacrosanct regions of the building, as Clem and Buck well knew—the private chambers and office of the departed Master.

“There’s a guard at the Master’s office door,” Lucy whispered, peering outside.

“There is?” Buck clenched his fists. “I’ll deal with him. Follow me.”

Unarmed as he was, and knowing there was, no retreat now they had come thus far, he stepped out boldly and advanced. The guard instantly leveled his atom-gun.

“Business?” he asked curtly.

“Urgent,” Buck replied, still on the move. “You’d better see these papers. There are some records in the Master’s office that I have permission to get. See—”

He fumbled in his overalls and unconsciously the guard watched the moving hand. The next thing he knew was that the other hand, bunched into a fist, had lashed a smashing left-hook under his chin. He gulped and his head snapped back to a sharp angle. Before he could attempt to recover the right hand whipped upwards and then descended in a fist on the back of his neck. He flattened knocked out.

“Okay,” Buck called, heaving the unconscious man to one side. “Coast’s clear for the moment.”

Still hanging on to Lucy, Clem hurried forward; then Buck swore under his breath as he tried the Master’s office door. It was locked, and made of solid metal so no shoulder heaving could possibly break it open.

“Only one answer,” Buck said, and from the floor he picked up the atom-gun that the guard had dropped.

“That’s going to ruin the lock when we want to barricade ourselves in,” Clem pointed out.

“Maybe so, but it’s a better alternative than being shut out here, isn’t it? The mob’ll be after us the moment they dare to risk it.”

He fired the gun into the lock and the third shaft of intolerably bright energy did the trick. Clem hurtled straight into the office and brought up sharp against the desk. Instantly Buck and the girl followed him, then Buck closed the door and used the atom-gun again to fuse frame and door into one solid piece down the opening side.

“May hold,” he said, “We’ll live in hope! Our best place at the moment seems to be the window. We can watch what’s happening.”

They moved to it, and for Lucy at least, it was a dizzying experience to gaze down into that two-thousand-foot canyon, of steel and stone and see the main street below like a ribbon amidst the smaller buildings.

“There they come!” Buck exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the left. “Swarms of ’em! Like ants on a strip of tape.”

His simile was very accurate. In silence Lucy and Clem watched the hordes swelling along the white roadway, plainly heading in the direction of this headquarters building. At this great height, and with the windows closed, there were no sounds, but presumably the mob was shouting for vengeance if their wild, surging movements were any guide.

“I’d give anything at this moment for a stack of bombs,” Buck muttered, glancing angrily around him.

Clem shrugged. “And what good would that do?”

“Good? Probably save us. I’ve no illusions about being able to stick in this office indefinitely.”

“Neither have I,” Clem answered. “Which means we might as well do what we can whilst we are here. Where’s that recording machine?”

He hurried across to the desk and looked at the recording instrument. A full reel of tape was on the take-up spool and, as far as could be judged, was the one that had recorded the interview with the Master. Quickly Clem laced the free end of the tape back on the empty spool and then set the machine in reverse until the tape was back at its start-ting point. A preliminary test satisfied him that it was the interview.

“And how far does that get us?” Buck asked, watching. “Nobody here to listen except us. It’s the people who ought to hear it. Some of them might believe it. However, it can’t be done until they break in here, and by that time I fancy they’ll be too fighting mad to listen to anything!”

“They can hear it before they break in here,” Clem replied quickly, studying the various instruments on the huge desk. “Here’s a direct transmission radio, used only by the Master, I suppose, but according to the meter readings it is tuned to all public speakers— Yes, that ought to do it, providing the power is permanently on.”

He switched on the apparatus, then when the pilot-light glowed he spoke into the microphone. Apparently nothing happened.

“Can’t tell whether this works or not,” he said quickly glancing up. “Buck, open the ventilator shaft at the top of the window there: it will enable me to hear my voice in the city if the speakers are working.”

Buck promptly obeyed, studying the still surging mob as he did so. The moment the ventilator opened the noise of the people floated up in an. indistinguishable blur of sound, but a second or two later it was completely swamped by Clem’s own vastly amplified voice thundering through the public loudspeakers.

“Attention all listeners! Attention to a special broadcast on the wavelength of the late Master!”

“Keep it up!” Lucy exclaimed excitedly, peering below. “The mob’s halted and is listening for what comes next.”

Clem switched on the recorder and the playback voices spoke into the microphone and thence relayed themselves to every public loudspeaker in the city and surrounding districts. Little by little the entire interview with the Master was given, ending at the point where he had decided he must search the records.

“There it is!” Clem cried. “Believe it or otherwise, but that is a genuine record of what happened. Surely now you can see that the Master was not abducted or murdered? He died as I told you—of extreme old age!”

Clem ceased announcing and hurried to the window to join Buck and the girl in watching the scene below. From the look of things the people were discussing amongst themselves what they should do next—then the attention of the trio was suddenly diverted by the sight of heli-jet planes hurtling towards the headquarters building. Apparently they had come from the space-airport a quarter of a mile distant.

“Now what?” Buck looked above, his eyes narrowed. “Are these devils trying to get at us from the sky as well as the ground?”

“No idea,” Clem muttered, “but they’re certainly headed this way.”

Anxiously he, Buck and Lucy watched. The jet planes circled for a few moments, then they made a swift dive to the roof of the headquarters building and landed on the immense flat space. Presumably they did so, at least. From their angle at the window the trio could no longer detect what had happened.

“They’re coming on again below,” Lucy said, her voice dispirited. “Evidently they don’t believe what you told them Clem—”

She broke off at a sudden battering din upon the office door.

“Those from the jet planes,” Buck snapped. “A quicker way than coming by the lift. It’ll take ages for the mob to get up here anyway— “You’re wasting your time!” he yelled, as the hammering on the door continued. “We’re not coming out and the door’s sealed.”

“It’s me, Buck!” a voice shouted. “Get the door open, can’t you? We can’t leave you in there—”

“The boys!” Buck gasped, surprised. “I’d forgotten all about them— Blast the door open if you’ve got your blast-guns!” he shouted. “We’ll stand clear.”

There was an interval of a moment or two, then a burning redness appeared in the center of the metal door. It quickly changed to white and at last the metal itself began to run like melting butter before the terrific heat of the blast-gun the chief engineer was using. The moment a hole large enough had been made he clambered through into the office, avoiding the searingly hot sides of the opening.

“In you come, boys,” he called, and the rest of the men followed him, bringing the heavy blast-guns on their broad shoulders.

“Nice work,” Buck complimented them. “Even though I don’t quite understand what you did.”

“Simple enough, Buck. When we departed from the balcony of the public hall the people were more concerned in finding you than bothering with us—particularly as we had blast-guns with which to protect ourselves—so we carried the stuff unmolested to the airfield and used six heli-jet planes. The authorities couldn’t stop us. We were in the air before the facts had dawned on them. Seemed to me the only way to get here ahead of the mob, and now we are here,” the engineer finished grimly, “we’ll give them a run for their money the moment they show themselves through that opening.”

“I don’t want any massacre,” Clem snapped.

“Maybe not, Clem, but this is out of your hands now,” Buck answered. “You’ve given them the record of the interview and it seems pretty clear that they haven’t accepted it. They’ve come into the building and any moment now they’ll be on top of us. I’m for fighting them—to the finish. Even if we go down let’s thin their numbers in the process.”

“At least let one of them speak, then,” Clem insisted. “We don’t know that they didn’t believe what they heard. If they’re still after us then let ’em have it, with my blessing.”

“Right!” Buck gave a grim nod and stood beside the chief engineer behind the line of blast-guns that had now been set in position. Lucy moved back also, Clem’s arm about her.

So they waited, listening to the growing sound of the mob ascending from the depths. They were coming by the moving stairways and had evidently swept all opposition out of the way in the process for, normally, nobody could get past the guards in the main hall of the building.

Nearer and nearer still, until their voices began to take on distinctness and their feet made a muffled thunder. And it last the first man and woman appeared—and stopped dead at the sight of the trained blast-guns.

“One step,” Buck warned, “and it’s the finish! If you’re resolved to take us to your blasted people’s justice you’re going to lose an awful lot of your numbers doing it!”

More men and women piled up behind the two hesitating in the broken doorway, until at last the space was jammed and there were shouts in the corridor demanding to know what was causing the hold-up.

“You heard my broadcast,” Clem snapped. “What more do you want?”

“We don’t believe a word of that rubbish!” one of the men shouted. “The whole thing was faked to sound like an interview with the Master—just as we were warned it would. You’re spies, all three of you, and you’ve brought about just the chaos you wanted! The whole city full of people out chasing you when we ought to be looking to our defences. Everybody knows by now that at any moment an Eastern armada might be sighted.”

“Hardly so soon,” Clem corrected. “Ambassador Hurst has not yet returned, and the attack is not likely to start until he has done so. There are rules, even in war.”

“What’s all the delay about?” bawled somebody, invisible to those inside the office. “Go in and get ’em.”

“That’s right! Wipe ’em out! They’ve done their best to ruin the city and—”

“Oh, stop talking like a lot of fools!” Clem cried, incensed. “You don’t seriously believe that any agents, no matter how capable, could bring about the death of people from old age in widely differing parts of the world, do you? The whole thing is explained by released entropy, entropy chained down for a thousand years by an unusually clever scientist. The Master believed it, and so must you—”

He broke off for the sudden surging of the people to the rear of those in the broken doorway forced those almost within the office to tumble inside it. Buck half raised his arm to give the signal to fire, but when it came to it even. he could not give the okay to a massacre, which it certainly would have been had the blast-guns opened up. A second later he regretted it for, seizing their chance, the mob rolled in irresistibly, surrounding the guns and the trio who now stood together.

The man who had appointed himself the spokesman of the mob came forward, a sour grin of triumph on his face.

“This time there won’t be any mistakes,” he said. “Not even a trial for we’re convinced it isn’t necessary anymore. When the partial wrecking of a city and the killing off of its people—to say nothing of cattle—is put down to entropy being tied up for a thousand years you stand condemned by your own audacity. Unfortunately the Council won’t let us use the lethal chamber: in fact they won’t let us do anything without a trial. So we’ll act on our own. Members of the Council did their best to stop us getting into this building—but most of ’em won’t do it again. All right, tie ’em up,” he ordered.

There was nothing the three could do, pinioned on all sides. Thin cabling was ruthlessly ripped from the instruments on the Master’s desk and used to bind the wrists and ankles of the three tightly.

“Why all this preliminary?” Clem asked bitterly. “There are blast-guns there. Why don’t you use them and get it, over with?”

“Bit too effective,” the spokesman answered. “Like using a cannon to swat a fly. Besides, some of us might get hurt, too. No, there’s a better way. We’re two thousand feet up here. Do I have to say more? Start moving to that window!”

“What?” Lucy gasped in. horror. “You don’t mean that you’re going to—”

“We mean that you’re going to go down a lot quicker than you came up. Drastic but necessary. In fact much too good for three spies who—” The spokesman broke off and turned, frowning, at interruptions from the corridor. A second or two later the reason became obvious as a strongly-built immaculately-dressed man, carrying a bulging briefcase in his hand, stepped through the broken door.

“Leslie. Hurst!” Clem cried thankfully, recognizing the famous ambassador. “Oh, thank God you came at this moment. Mister Hurst! These people will not believe—”

“These people,” Hurst said, with a cold glance around him, “are behaving like a lot of recessive units. Every one of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!” he went on angrily. “What’s the use of a scientific upbringing if you don’t use it? Cut those three free instantly.”

Such was his air of command he was obeyed, though reluctantly and the people stood looking at him grimly. It was only his unexpected arrival and apparent complete lack of fear that had enabled him to stride into their midst in any case.

“For your edification,” he said, “I heard over my personal radio, which is tuned to the Master’s private waveband, all that was going on in here. When you gave your original announcement concerning the interview you had with the Master, Mister Bradley, you evidently didn’t switch off afterwards. I gathered exactly what was happening and came on the last lap of my journey with all speed. I would have been here some days ago except for an important happening in the Eastern hemisphere.”

Everybody waited, then Hurst finished: “You idiots who were so determined to kill this young woman, along with Mister Bradley and Mister Cardew here, ought to go down on your knees to her in thankfulness. Because of her, because of the fact that she lived a thousand years ago and revived again in this age, the threat of war has been destroyed. If that doesn’t prove she isn’t a spy I don’t know what does.”

“But—but how do you mean?” Lucy herself asked blankly.

“I mean,” Hurst replied deliberately, “that Generals Zoam and Niol, who were directly responsible for wanting war with the West, have both died of extreme senility. President Ilof radioed the news to me when I was on my return flight, so I went back. I found, as I have always believed, that president Ilof is a peace-loving man and desires nothing more than friendly relations between the hemispheres. Apart from Generals Niol, and Zoam, hundreds of other people in the Eastern hemisphere have died too. The reason? This woman here! Zoam and Niol, like many Easterners, were also remote descendants of Lucy Denby. That fact has saved all of us, and re-established relations between the two hemispheres on a better footing than ever.… As for our own Master, it is for the Council to decide who must succeed him.”

“Then—then that interview was true?” gasped the spokesman for the people.

“Every word of it, and this girl you have vilified is your savior. Now, apologize, and make a fresh demand—that she be given city status.”

The people turned from Hurst to look at the girl. So did Clem and Buck. Then they were silent, stunned by the unbelievable as the last piece in the puzzle had evidently resolved itself.

Lucy Denby had vanished—but her clothes remained.

THE HOUSE ON THE MOORS, by John Glasby

“You say you’re the last of the Ingham family?” The innkeeper leaned his elbows on the bar and spoke in a low whisper, evidently not wanting to be overheard by his other customers.

“That’s right.” Charles Ingham nodded. “My uncle, Henry Ingham, died in London last week leaving everything to me.”

“And that’s why you’ve come to Exborough?”

Picking up his change, Charles said, “I understand my family came from this part of Yorkshire some two centuries ago. I believe they lived some distance from the village, out on the moors yonder. I’m sure I caught a glimpse of the Manor on my way here.”

The other rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Reckon you might just have seen the ruins of the west wing,” he remarked. “There’s not much else left to see.”

Charles paused with his glass halfway to his lips. “Ruins?” He looked bewildered. “Nothing like that. This seemed to be quite a splendid building. Very old, of course, but I’d say it was in quite good condition considering its age.”

He was suddenly aware that one of the regulars had approached the bar and was standing beside him, an odd expression on his lined features.

“You say you saw the Manor on your way here?” The man looked to be well into his eighties but his eyes were bright and alert.

Charles nodded, controlling his irritation at this unexpected interruption.

“Then you either imagined it—or you’re one o’ that accursed family. We all thought the Inghams had died out a hundred years ago.”

Charles’ irritation turned into anger at this remark. Brusquely, he retorted, “Certainly my name is Ingham but I don’t see—”

“Now let’s have none of your wild tales, Seb,” the innkeeper interrupted sharply. “Mister Ingham is merely staying here for a few days and I’m sure he’s not interested in any of your fancies.”

“On the contrary, if he’s anything to say against my family, I’d prefer it if he’d say it to my face.”

“All right, mister, I will. It’s all true, even though it did happen nearly two hundred years ago. The Inghams were a wild lot who lived in the Manor in those times and Sir Roger Ingham was the worst of ’em all. Folk swore he’d sold his soul to the Devil.

“All the Lords and Ladies attended his devilish parties and most o’ the local gentry. He were a man o’ the most violent temper. They do say that if one o’ his servants angered him, he’d turn the man out on the moors and set the dogs after him. Nobody dared say a word against him.”

The octogenarian took a swallow of his beer, then set the glass down on the counter. “But even then, the Devil took care of his own. Seems that one night some o’ the drapes caught fire. Within five minutes the whole o’ the house was ablaze, flames shootin’ up into the sky from one end o’ the Manor to the other.”

Charles uttered a derisive laugh. “So now you’re telling me they were all burned in the fire and their ghosts still haunt the Manor. Utter rubbish.”

“Nay, mister. Nothing like that. Somehow, they all got out alive but it were impossible to save the building. There was talk that one body was found inside the ruins the next day but there weren’t enough left to identify him. Bat since it were none o’ the party that night, they reckoned it must’ve been one o’ the servants they hired from York.”

“Or some poor devil Sir Roger had killed after having sport with him,” put in the innkeeper.

“All very interesting,” Charles said with a note of derision in his voice. “But since I’m certain of what I saw, I think I’ll go out there myself and see what’s really there.”

“Then on your own head be it,” muttered the old man. “But you won’t find anything. Trouble with you city folk is that you reckon you know it all.”

Charles felt a stab of anger rise up in him again but he managed to choke it down. Checking his watch, he estimated there were still two hours of daylight left.

“How do I get to the Manor?” he asked.

He sensed the hesitation on the innkeeper’s part, then the other said, “Go to the end of the village. There’s a narrow lane on the left. Follow it for about two miles and you’ll come upon a track leading onto the moors. It’s quite a long walk but I wouldn’t advise you to take the car. And I can assure you, you’ll find nothing but ruins.”

Thanking him, Charles set off, soon leaving the village behind. The sun was still quite high above the western horizon as he reached the lane.

Twenty minutes later, he found the track. It was only just discernible, a rough trail that led him through patches of tangled briar and clusters of stunted trees before topping a low rise.

Below him, in a shallow valley, stood a large, stately building. The track continued, passing between tall metal gates, still standing after all those years since it was last occupied two centuries earlier.

The extensive grounds were a jungle of riotous growth but it was comparatively easy to visualize how magnificent they had once been and to feel some of the old-worldly charm which had once existed here.

Pushing his way through the entangling growths, Charles walked up to the magnificent door. Above it was a stone lintel and on it was the ancient crest of the Inghams, only just visible in the smooth stone.

He stood absolutely still, taking in every detail of the building, wondering why a sudden chill had descended upon him. Somehow, he had the impression there was something more here than mere neglect amiss with this place. Something dead, yet still terribly alive, was watching him with unseen eyes.

Quickly, he shrugged the sensation away. He did not believe in ghosts haunting old buildings such as this. Certainly, if he decided to take it and live here there was a lot needing to be done to make it habitable again.

On impulse, he grasped the heavy brass handle, twisted it, and pushed.

He had expected the door to be locked. Instead, it opened noisily and, after a momentary pause, he stepped inside. It was cool and dark inside the long hallway with its oak paneled walls.

At the end, he found himself in the huge banqueting hall with a massive table along the center and some twenty ornate chairs ranged neatly around it. Woven tapestries hung along the walls, their long drapes interspersed with large portraits.

He gave a little shudder. It was startling but everything looked as though the occupants had just stepped outside into the gardens a few moments before. There was not a speck of dust anywhere. There were no cobwebs festooning the walls and high corners, nothing out of place.

Yet this was utterly impossible. The solicitors had told him there was nothing but ruins after that fire two hundred years earlier. Evidently those old stories of a fire had been nothing more than that; old stories. Certainly it was a mystery why Sir Roger had left so abruptly and no one seemed to have been here since.

He had to admit there was an eerie atmosphere about it but he put this down to having been untenanted for so long. After exploring the rooms on the ground floor, he made his way up the wide stairway to the upper stories. Here, everything was as though it had been in use only the day before. There were eight bedrooms, all with clean sheets and covers on the beds.

In the last one at the end of a long corridor, he walked over to the window and looked out over the grounds. Once the rank weeds were dug up and burned it would not take long to get the gardens back into shape.

To his left was what had once been the orchard. Several fruit trees hung with blossom with the previous year’s leaves lying in thick carpets beneath them. He stood there for several minutes with the light of the setting sun shining directly into his eyes.

It was just as he turned away that he noticed something distinctly odd. For a split second he had the impression that the scene outside changed. Everything happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that he couldn’t be absolutely sure of what he saw. It was as if another scene had been abruptly superimposed upon the unkempt gardens outside.

Almost, he decided, as if they had been subtly altered in some way. He shook his head angrily. Nothing more than a thin cloud passing across the sun, he told himself fiercely.

Going outside, he closed the heavy door and walked back to the village.

By now, he had made up his mind. He was determined to take occupancy of the Manor. From what he had seen, very little needed to be done inside. He could move in right away. A few external repairs and a couple of gardeners to put the grounds into shape, and it would be fully habitable.

That evening, after supper in the dining room of the inn, he mentioned his intentions to the innkeeper. There were now several of the locals in the bar and the air was thick with tobacco smoke.

“Surely you’re not serious, sir?” The other eyed him with a blend of puzzlement and concern on his ruddy features. “I don’t know what you think you saw at that accursed place. But if you saw anything at all, you’ll put that foolish idea out of your mind completely.”

“Why? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the house. It’s in perfect condition. I won’t even have to buy any furniture.”

“You’ve actually seen it—you’ve been inside?”

“Of course I have. Why shouldn’t I? After all, it is my property now. I can do exactly as I like with it.”

“But—” the innkeeper began. He was on the point of saying something more but at that moment, the old man Charles had met earlier, now seated in the far corner, said,

“You’re a danged fool, mister. Either that or you’ve been seeing things.”

“Just what do you mean by that?” Charles demanded. “I know precisely what I saw.”

The other shook his head, almost pityingly. “I’ve no doubt you saw something. A few folk have but nobody from this village. Ain’t one of us who’d go near that Devil’s place.”

“Suit yourselves,” Charles said shortly. He was beginning to lose his patience with these locals and their fanciful, spectral tales.

* * * *

The next day, after paying the innkeeper, he thrust his bags into the boot of the car and drove out of the village. The weather had taken a turn for the worse with a high wind and towering clouds threatening rain. As he turned onto the narrow track he eased his foot off the accelerator. A thin mist shrouded the moors and he had no wish to damage the car as it swayed and bumped over the treacherous, rugged terrain.

Topping the low hill, he drove carefully through the gates and parked immediately in front of the Manor. In the dismal gray light it held a strangely forbidding look, quite different from how it had appeared in the bright sunlight.

Taking his bags inside, he set them down in the hall. He had already ascertained there was no electricity laid onto the house but in the kitchen he found three paraffin lamps and several large candles. Having brought with him a plentiful supply of food and drink, he settled in, checking every room for any evidence of a drip with would suggest a leak where rain was getting in. He made himself something to eat, then went into the well-stocked library. Taking down a couple of books, he spent the afternoon reading.

That night, he retired early. It was already dark outside with rain lashing against the windows and the wind howling around the ancient eaves.

Lying in the large bed with the candle flame flickering on the mahogany dresser beside him, he suddenly realized that ever since entering the house, he had been listening intently for sounds that might be lurking behind those normal to old buildings.

There had been nothing.

No ghostly voices murmuring in the dark shadows; no clanking of chains in the long, gloomy corridors. As he had suspected, the spectral stories spoken of by the villagers were nothing more than that—idle gossip handed down from one generation to another and undoubtedly suitably embellished over the years.

He fell asleep almost at once. When he woke, an indeterminate time later, it was still dark. The candle had burned down only a little way. Clearly, he had not slept for long.

He lay quite still for a moment, struggling to identify what had woken him. Then the sound came again. It was quite distinct and unmistakable and it came, not from inside the house, but from outside; horses’ hooves and the creak of carriage wheels.

Puzzled, Charles swung his feet to the floor and padded to the window overlooking the front of the house. Some time while he had slept, the sky had cleared and now the grounds were flooded with yellow moonlight. Details were clearly visible but there was no sign of anything that could have produced the sounds he was still hearing. It was as if invisible carriages were moving away from the house towards the distant gates.

He picked out faint voices and occasional raucous laughter before the last echoes atrophied into silence.

He also noticed another odd effect, one that he had witnessed before during his previous visit.

The entire scene outside shimmered briefly. Details wavered in a curious manner for which he could find no rational explanation, unless it was a distortion produced by the glass.

Somehow, he found his way back to the bed and sat with the covers pulled up to his chest, staring into the darkness. Had he simply imagined those sounds? After all, this was his first night in a strange, old house and perhaps those stories told him at the inn might have affected him more than he had thought.

In the morning, he tried to put the event down to some strange, but extremely vivid, nightmare, telling himself it had not really happened. There were no such things as ghosts. The dead remained dead.

Besides, even if there had been any truth in the old man’s utterance, everyone had escaped the fire, which had supposedly gutted this building. Even that made no sense when there was absolutely no evidence that the Manor had been rebuilt, certainly not within the last century.

To take his mind off the morbid thoughts that raced chaotically through his mind, Charles spent most of the day in the garden close to the house, setting to work with his usual vigor to put the grounds in order again. It was hard work digging up tangled roots, clearing the choking weeds from around thorny rose bushes and apple trees.

By evening, there was a large bonfire burning on a patch of clear ground, the dense white smoke spiraling lazily into the still air.

Satisfied with what he had achieved, he left the fire smoldering and went inside. For some reason, he was feeling tensed and decided to take a couple of the tablets his doctor had prescribed. The doctor had warned him not to take alcohol with the tablets but, as he settled himself in front of the fire in the wide hearth, he thought, “What the hell—”

As he sipped his third brandy, he considered several questions that were still puzzling him. Why was there no sign of dust anywhere? He doubted if anyone from the village would come daily to keep it clean even if his uncle had made provision for that before his death. It was almost as if the house had been waiting for him to move in.

After the fourth brandy, an odd drowsiness came over him. He felt his eyelids drooping, his head sinking towards the table. He had the feeling that someone, or something, was watching him closely. Once he opened his eyes to assure himself it was only his imagination playing tricks with him. The only eyes staring down at him were those in the large portraits on the walls.

His eyes closed again and a moment later he was asleep, the half-empty glass falling from his hand onto the floor. When he came awake, he was shivering violently. The two candles he had placed on the table had burned very low and were flickering on the point of extinction. Then, with a sudden cry, he jerked himself from his chair.

The unmistakable sound of voices and laughter reached him quite clearly from outside. His first thought was that some of the more adventurous youths from the village had made their way across the moors intent on making trouble.

If that were the case, he’d soon chase them away. With a grim determination, he strode to the door and threw it open. The sudden shock of what he saw froze him instantly.

Everything was changed. Where he had left the smoldering bonfire was a wide grassy lawn sloping towards the gates. Light suddenly spilled through every window on the lower floor, clearly illuminating the long line of carriages drawn up in front of the house. The men and women alighting from them were dressed oddly in the style of two centuries earlier.

In twos and threes, they brushed past him. Not one so much as glanced in his direction or gave any sign they saw him. It was as if he didn’t exist. Behind him, in the banqueting hall, there was a sudden riot of noise. Tall wax candles suddenly appeared on the table.

As he watched, every seat was occupied. A ceaseless chatter dinned in his ears as he sagged against the door.

At the head of the table he saw a tall, arrogant man in his mid-fifties whom Charles instantly recognized from the portraits around the walls as the infamous Sir Roger Ingham. His face was flushed with drink and something in his close-set eyes sent a shiver of ice along Charles’ spine. The man was the embodiment of pure, sadistic evil.

Immobile, Charles struggled to pull himself together. The one thought in his mind was that the drug he had taken with the brandy was affecting him to the point where he was hallucinating. Once he slept it off, everything would return to normal.

A harsh, angry shout from the head of the table jerked Charles’ head around. His ancestor had lurched drunkenly to his feet, a silver goblet in his hand. “More wine!” he yelled.

One of the liveried servants hurried over. The man’s hands were shaking violently as he poured more wine into the goblet. Some spilled onto the table but more fell upon Sir Roger’s richly-embroidered coat.

With a roar of rage, he flung the goblet into the servant’s face, sending him reeling back. Whirling, Sir Roger motioned to two other footmen standing nearby.

“I’ll teach ye to spill drink on your master!” Swaying a little, he tore at the servant’s jacket and shirt, ripping them away until the man was naked to the waist. With a gesture, Ingham ordered the footmen to pin the man to the wall.

Another lackey crossed to the wall and took down a long, heavy whip, which Sir Roger snatched from him. Motioning the footmen away, he drew back the whip and then proceeded to flog the unfortunate servant mercilessly. Within minutes, the man’s back was a mass of lacerated, bleeding flesh.

But worse was to come. Dragging the servant from the wall, he flung him to the floor. Then, reaching up, he pulled one of a pair of axes from the wall. Charles could barely suppress a scream as his ancestor raised the axe high above his head and brought the blade down on the moaning man’s outstretched wrist.

“Now ye’ll not spill any of my fine wine again.” Sir Roger straightened, his face like a demon’s as he stared around the guests gathered at the table.

Charles had expected to see shock and horror mirrored on their faces. But, without exception, he saw broad smiles of approval, their very attitudes applauding his actions and lusting for more. Clearly, these folk were just as evil as Sir Roger. The footmen hauled the servant to his feet and took him from the room while a third entered and sprinkled sawdust on the pool of blood near the table.

Shaking uncontrollably, Charles pushed himself hard against the wall. Dear God, had such scenes as this really happened two hundred years ago? If so, he could clearly understand how the villagers felt about his family even after all this time.

Sir Roger had returned to his seat, an expression of malicious amusement on his coarse features. For a moment, he sat there, his gaze roving over the faces of his guests.

Then, suddenly, he turned his head and stared directly at the spot where Charles stood. His gaze locked with Charles’ and there was a look of growing amazement blended with anger on his bloated features.

Starting up, he pointed directly at Charles. “An interloper in our midst!” he bellowed. “How did yon knave gain entry into my house? Seize him!”

Somehow, Charles galvanized himself into action. Several of the guests were on their feet. Together with the servants, they came towards him.

His first thought was the front door directly behind him. Frantically, he twisted the handle but it stubbornly refused to open. There was no escape that way.

Turning, he ran for the far wall. His only chance lay in getting back upstairs, into his bedroom, and locking the thick wooden door. A dark, menacing figure suddenly blocked his way.

Without thinking, he swung a clenched fist at the leering face, expecting his hand to pass right through it. Instead, his knuckles contacted solid flesh.

With a grunt, the man staggered and fell to his knees. Desperately, Charles kicked out as the servant attempted to grab him around the knees. Then, acutely aware of the pandemonium all around him, he managed to free himself.

Moments later, he reached the bottom of the wide stairway and took the stairs two at a time, almost falling in his frantic haste to reach the top. Behind him, Sir Roger was shouting at the top of his voice, urging his guests on.

Throwing open the door of the bedroom, he slammed it shut behind him, sliding the thick metal bolts into place. He was shaking convulsively as he dragged the heavy dressed across the floor, thrusting it hard against the door.

His mind whirling, he threw himself down on the bed. If this was an hallucination induced by that drug he’d taken, it was too damned real for his liking. Even now, the hallucination continued. Dimly, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor outside the door.

The handle turned, accompanied by several loud blows. Harsh voices sounded. Then these ceased. But from downstairs, there was still the sound of coarse, raucous laughter.

Steadying himself, he tried to think clearly. This had to be a delusion. There was no other rational explanation. From all he knew, it was a fact that none of these people had died here and there was no reason for them to haunt this place.

He clung desperately to that one thought, still struggling to compose himself. How long he lay there, still trembling all over, he couldn’t tell. Then, abruptly, there came a change in the sounds from below. The harsh merriment gave way to shrieks of terror. There came the crash of dishes, the unmistakable sound of running feet.

For a moment, Charles remained where he was, fingers clutching convulsively at the bed covers. Then he stumbled from the bed and walked unsteadily to the window.

There was still light spilling onto the lawn from the lower floor but now it was different, tinged with an angry red. It was not candlelight but something far more frightening and deadly.

The house was ablaze. He could not understand how it had happened but he knew he had to get out of there, and quickly. Pulling the dresser from the doorway, he tugged urgently at the handle. It refused to open.

There was the faint sound of carriage wheels diminishing into the distance, followed by the insidious crackle of flames eating into the woodwork, spreading swiftly through the lower half of the house.

As he pulled futilely at the door, Charles Ingham now saw it all. With the possible exception of one, there were no ghosts here. It was the house itself which was the ghost, taking him back to that far-off time of Sir Roger and his cronies—and in a single soul-searing instant, he knew the identity of that body which had been found in the burnt-out ruins all those years ago!

THE MARTIAN ENIGMA, by John Glasby

After two days in orbit, the third expeditionary ship to Mars landed gently on the rust-red surface within half a kilometre of the designated position. Outside, there was a dust storm in the distance but Clive Bradwell, the pilot, estimated it was too far away to pose any danger to them.

Two earlier expeditions to the Red Planet had both landed in this region and had reported finding something strange situated close to the large mound, which they could now clearly see on the rectangular visiplate.

Vic Cranton, the astronomer, stood facing the viewer, a worried frown on his lean features. Beside him, Anne Kirby, the biophysicist and Helen Wainwright, an eminent geologist, made up the rest of the crew.

“What do you make of it, Vic?” Bradwell asked. “Anything there to explain why those two ships failed to return to Earth?”

The astronomer shook his head. “Nothing. To be quite honest, this is precisely what I expected. You’re absolutely certain this is the location they gave in their initial reports?”

“No doubt about it. The coordinates agree exactly.”

“Just what did those two missions report?” Anne asked. “Remind me.”

“Simply that an important find had been made,” Clive replied. “Neither team went into any detail. And as far as we know, they took off successfully on their return to Earth.”

“So whatever happened to them, it must have occurred after they’d left the planet.”

“That’s the presumptive conclusion back on Earth.” Clive walked over to the lockers, which housed the protective suits. “But there’s something here which seems highly peculiar to me. Two spacecraft malfunctioning on the return journey. That makes no sense.”

Vic glanced away from the visiplate, rubbing his chin. “Before we go down onto the surface, does anyone have any suggestions as to what might have happened?”

It was Anne who answered him. “Either we accept that something went wrong with both ships or—or whatever they found here was the cause of their disappearance.”

“Then I suggest we check out what’s down there but proceed with caution,” Helen put in. “We’ll certainly discover nothing just standing here.”

Fifteen minutes later, they had suited up and were standing on the Martian surface. The large dust cloud had disappeared into the far distance.

Beneath their feet, the ochre soil was dotted with rocks and boulders of every shape and size. Bradwell pointed a gloved hand. Over the communicator, he said, “That long escarpment yonder in where they claimed they found something out of the ordinary.”

In the lower gravity, they made their way cautiously towards it. It loomed about a hundred feet above the flatness of the surrounding sand and Bradwell estimated it to be at least six kilometres in length.

He scanned it meticulously through the transparent vizor. Outwardly, it appeared no different from the hundreds of other similar formations they had scanned from orbit.

The pale sunlight, slanting obliquely across the surface made it glow a dull crimson.

“Nothing here but solid rock,” Helen said, examining it closely. “Somehow, I doubt if—”

She broke off sharply as Anne’s voice sounded excitedly over their communicators.

“There’s something here but I don’t believe what I’m seeing.”

Clive glanced round quickly. She was standing some distance away, staring down at the base of the escarpment immediately in front of her.

Feet sloughing off the reddish sand, they joined her.

There was a dark, irregular opening in the rock and, even though the aperture was deeply shadowed, they could clearly make out the steps leading down into absolute darkness.

For a moment, they stared at each other in stunned silence. Then Clive said harshly, “So there was once intelligent life on Mars. But these steps must be millions of years old and whoever, or whatever, made them must have died out along with any vegetation there may have been, almost as long ago.”

“I wouldn’t be too dogmatic about that,” Anne said tensely.

Vic forced casualness into his tone. “Surely you’re not suggesting that—”

“All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t forget those two other missions. Either they found something here—or something found them.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, broken by the astronomer. “Then I think you and Clive should remain here while Helen and I investigate.”

When the pilot made to protest, he added, “You have to stay, Clive. You’re the only one who can take the ship back to Earth if anything does happen.”

“Then watch your step, both of you,” Cranton said, his face twisted into a worried frown. “We’re dealing with the unknown here. There’s no telling what might be down there.”

Nodding, Vic took the large torch that the pilot held out to him, switched it on, and shone the powerful beam down into the blackness. The steps seemed to descend as far as the torchlight could penetrate. He also noticed their peculiar delineations as if they had been designed for feet totally unlike those of humans.

With Helen following close behind him, he lowered himself down, one hand trailing along the wall. Faceted crystals along the walls reflected the light back at him out of thousands of winking eyes.

Just what is this? he wondered. Some incredibly alien artefact encrusted within the rock, or some long-dead Martian burial place like the pyramids? It seemed certain that several million years of geological time lay stratified within these crystal rocks.

Helen’s voice crackled over the communicator in his helmet. “Can you see any end to these steps? We must be more than a hundred feet below the surface already.”

“Nothing yet,” he answered. “They just seem to—” He broke off sharply. “What is it?”

“There’s something down there. I can’t quite make out what it is.”

Carefully, they eased themselves down for a further thirty feet. In front of them stood a huge door inlaid with the cryptic symbols of some alien language.

“So what do we do now?” Helen asked. “Personally, I can see no way of opening this. Yet, somehow, I have the feeling those others who cam here were describing something more important and unusual than this.”

“Meaning that, somehow, they opened it and saw what’s on the other side?”

“Exactly.”

Vic pondered that for a moment, then thrust the torch into her hands.

“Hold this for me.”

While Helen shone the light over the door, Vic reached out and ran his fingers over the strange symbols. By now, he was convinced those two earlier teams had found the means of opening it. Yet at first, he could see nothing.

Then he thought he noticed something. “Move around to the side and shine the light obliquely across it,” he said tautly.

A moment later, he knew he had not been mistaken. All of the symbols, with but one exception, were engraved upon the surface. One, however, close to the left-hand side, was embossed, throwing its shadow across the surface.

Acting on impulse, he stretched out his hand and placed it on that particular motif, pressing hard. There was a faint click and an instant later, the door slid downward into the rock.

Warily, Vic stepped forward and stared around him in amazement. The chamber was huge and here there was no need of the torch. A bright greenish radiance illuminated everything as far as the eye could see.

At the far end on a low dais, stood a vast, carved figure. The outline was not even remotely human—a teratological nightmare. Shuddering, Helen turned her head away.

“What is this place?” Her voice quavered a little in spite of the tight rein she forced on her emotions.

“Evidently a temple of some kind. I suppose, like us, they had gods and this must apparently represent one of them. Ugly looking thing, isn’t it?”

Hovering more than thirty feet above them, the statue dominated the entire end of the chamber. From what Vic could see, it had been carved, or molded, from a single block of the crystalline rock.

“Have you found anything yet?” Clive’s voice, slightly distorted, sounded in their ears. “Is it safe to come down?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any danger. Offhand, I’d say this place has been deserted for several million years.” Vic called back. “Come on down but you’re not going to believe what you see.”

Less than ten minutes later, Clive and Anne entered toe chamber, bewilderment written all over their faces.

“We reckon this must be some kind of temple,” Helen told them. “And that monstrosity would have been one of their deities.”

“Incredible.” Anne shook her head in disbelief.

“I suggest we begin photographing everything,” Clive said briskly. “No one on Earth is going to believe this. An advanced civilization on Mars which must have become extinct millions of years ago, possibly due to some drastic change in the weather pattern.”

“We do know there was once an abundance of water on Mars from the characteristics of many of the channels. Now it seemed to be mainly locked in the polar caps.”

He turned to Anne. “Do you have any ideas about this long-dead race?”

Anne shrugged. “Judging from what we have here, I’d say they attained an extremely high level of technological and scientific achievement.”

“Equal to our own?”

Pursing her lips, she turned that question over in her mind. Finally, she said, “It’s impossible to make an accurate assessment based merely on what we’re seeing here. There’s clearly too much for us to examine everything in detail. I would be surprised if they reached the nuclear level like ourselves.”

“Why do you say that?” Vic asked.

“I’d say their scientific evolution moved parallel to ours. If they were conversant with nuclear power, they would surely have reached the point where they were capable of space flight. They’d have left Mars for another planet before the catastrophe, whatever it was, overtook them. Earth would have been the most suitable planet but there’s absolutely no evidence they ever landed there in the past.”

“They could have gone out to the stars,” Clive suggested. He looked to Vic for confirmation but the astronomer shook his head.

“That’s highly unlikely. Not with the Earth orbiting next door to them.”

“So you believe they just sat here and let the catastrophe happen without doing anything about it?” Clive said.

“So it would seem unless we find anything to the contrary. Let’s examine this place as thoroughly as we can before jumping to any conclusions.”

Almost automatically, Anne moved away with Clive towards the end of the chamber furthest from the massive idol. Glancing at Helen, Vic gestured towards the dais. At first sight, it seemed devoid of anything but the statue. Craning his neck, he stared up at it, feeling a sense of awe at the tremendous time period that must have elapsed since it had first been made.

Inwardly, he was beginning to feel he was wrong in his belief that the race which had left this mute testimony to their existence all that time ago had simply accepted their fate, going to their doom without a whimper. There had to be something more to it than that.

Helen’s voice jerked his thoughts back to the present. She had somehow worked her way around to the back of the statue. Here there was a space perhaps three yards side between the idol and the rear wall.

“I thought this was as far as the chamber extended into the rock,” she said tensely. “But it isn’t.”

She drew him towards a narrow section that appeared to be of a slightly different texture to the rest. “All of this—” she waved an arm to embrace the huge wall, “—is made of the same crystalline rock as the escarpment. But this is definitely metal.”

Stepping forward a couple of paces, Vic examined the area minutely, then nodded. “You’re right. There is another door here but quite clearly it wasn’t meant to be as easy to find as the other.”

Scarcely were the words out of his mouth than a brilliant beam of light speared out from the base of the statue, falling upon the door in front of them. A second later, it slid open.

Helen stared at it in obvious surprise, but Vic said calmly, “Evidently there’s some mechanism here that senses the presence of living organisms.”

His companion turned her head quickly to glance in all directions.

Her voice shook slightly as she muttered, “I have the strange feeling that this place isn’t as devoid of life as we think.”

All of this had passed unnoticed by the other two crew members, being hidden behind the massive bulk of the statue, but their urgent call soon brought them running.

Clive took in the situation at once. “Clearly this second chamber was concealed in this way because it contains something important,” he said, going forward.

The rest followed him into total darkness. Here, there was no light and that from the larger chamber penetrated only a little way beyond the door.

Vic switched on the torch again and swept the beam around the room. Although smaller than the main chamber, it was still sufficiently large for the torchlight to make little impression on the far wall.

Scrutinizing the room closely, Vic said, “This looks like some kind of laboratory. But why here, adjoining the temple?”

“Possibly, in their culture, science and religion were just two aspects of the same thing,” Anne said. “Just like alchemy and religion in the Middle Ages on Earth.”

“Could be, I suppose.” Vic agreed. He was still puzzled but made no further comment.

Taking the lead, he began a slow circuit of the room. Nearest the door, on a low shelf, were several scrolls made of a material resembling plastic on which were inscribed numerous symbols.

“Evidently a Martian language,” Helen observed. “But with nothing to which we can compare it, I’d say it’ll be utterly impossible for anyone to decipher it. There’s no chance of finding a Rosetta Stone here to help us.”

Clive gave a nod. “Notice how each symbol is hooked onto the straight lines above the rows. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We’ll take one of them back with us,” Helen said. “It might give the cryptologists back home something to get their teeth into.”

Deeper into the chamber, they came upon an array of intricate machines, some extending almost the entire length of the room. Clive threw a questioning glance at Vic. “Any idea what these might be?”

The astronomer examined them minutely in the torchlight. “Sticking my neck out, I’d say they’re some form of particle accelerators which would mean they did know about nuclear physics. Yet that doesn’t fit in with them never discovering space travel. Unless—”

“Go on,” Anne urged.

“Well, you see, we on Earth had one big advantage when it came to going out into space. We had the Moon. Only around a quarter of a million miles away—a very short distance on an interplanetary scale. And big enough for space stations to be built, its lower gravity providing an excellent launch site for planetary exploration.

“Mars has only two very small satellites—Deimos and Phobos—neither anywhere as ideal as the Moon. A very low gravity, of course, but little more than large rocks.”

“So what were they doing with nuclear energy all those millions of years ago?” Clive spoke to no one in particular. “If they were such an advanced race, why have we found no ruins of their cities? After all, the Martian surface has been completely scanned over the last few decades and nothing has shown up.”

“Would you really expect anything?” Helen asked. As the geologist, she considered this her particular field. “If this site is at least two million years old, a lot can happen in that time. Violent winds and sandstorms occur over almost the entire surface. If there are any ruins left, you’d have to dig pretty deep to uncover them.”

By now they were approaching the far end of the room. Here there was more scientific equipment, all of which had been designed for purposes at whose nature they could not even guess.

It was Anne who drew their attention to a small triangular shelf which stood only a few inches above the floor.

“Look at this,” she exclaimed.

Clive shone the torchlight directly onto it. A thin layer of reddish dust covered it and on it were five strange objects unlike anything they had yet seen. All were identical, made out of crystal. A faint tracery of weaving light blurred the interior slightly and in the center hovered a weirdly pulsing sphere.

As far as they could determine there was nothing holding up the tiny globe suspended there. But even more intriguing were the two oval spaces in the dust indicating that two of these objects had recently been removed.

Anne reached out a hand towards the nearest. “Do you think we should take one of these back with us?”

“No!” Clive spoke more sharply than he had intended.

“Why not? I’m sure the nuclear physicists would be delighted to get their hands on one of these. It could advance our knowledge by centuries. Obviously the other two teams never managed to get one back.”

“Which is precisely why we must exercise caution. Either it was pure coincidence what happened to those other ships on the way back to Earth—or these were the cause of it.”

His words fell into an uneasy silence.

Finally, Anne persisted, “I still think we can’t afford to miss this opportunity to find out exactly what these are. We’re scientists and whatever they are, they’ve obviously been here for millions of years.”

She fumbled in her belt and unhooked the small radiation counter. Pushing it forward, she placed it close to the objects. There was no reading at all.

“Evidently they’re not radioactive.”

“Very well,” Clive nodded. “We’ll take one back with us.” Giving Vic a quick glance, he added, “But we exercise caution with it.”

* * * *

The next five days were spent examining everything in the two chambers. Most of the machines were incomprehensible to them. Only one further piece of evidence was found which they could understand without any ambiguity. Engraved on a metal plate attached to one of the machines were several lines of Martian characters.

Underneath them were three odd symbols. The first two were identical consisting of a large sphere with a smaller one some distance from it. The third was merely a fuzzy patch.

After studying it for a few moments, Vic said, “There’s no doubt what that’s intended to represent since it’s in a universal language. It’s the equation for hydrogen fusion. The first two are hydrogen atoms, a proton orbited by an electron.”

“And that third symbol?” Helen asked. “It doesn’t seem to represent anything.”

“Certainly it does. It depicts the energy released by the reaction. Just think of it, a race possibly far in advance of our own that disappeared completely. Somehow, I doubt if there’s anything here which will tell us what happened and where they went.”

* * * *

The take-off from Mars was uneventful. Acceleration tore at them as they lifted clear of the rust-red surface. Below them, the enigmatic escarpment receded swiftly as the planet dropped away into the void.

As on the two previous occasions, Clive had transmitted his report to Earth control telling that they had completed their mission successfully and had blasted off from Mars. Once they reached their maximum velocity, the artificial gravity on board matched that of Earth. After the lover gravity of Mars it took them a little while to acclimatize to it.

Now there was little for them to do but keep a close check on the life-support systems and examine the photographs they had taken inside the chambers. The alien artefact they had brought with them was securely stored in the hold. Both Anne and Helen were of the opinion that it was a highly advanced source of energy, possibly one utilizing cold hydrogen fusion.

Vic, however, was more dubious. He couldn’t shake off the feeling it was not only the reason why the Martians had apparently died out in a very short period of time, but also the reason those other two ships had failed to return to Earth. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to put forward any plausible link between these events.

Three days out from Mars, he knew he had to check the ancient relic more closely. Mentioning his intention to the others, Helen and Anne were noncommittal but Clive was dead against it.

“We should leave it where it is until the experts back home take a look at it,” he insisted.

“I don’t agree. If it was the cause of the loss of those two ships the more we know about it, the better. If it is a weapon left by the Martians, we’d have known about it by now.”

Clive could see a number of flaws in the astronomer’s argument but it was obvious that both Helen and Anne were in agreement with Vic. “Very well so long as you all realize we’re dealing with an alien culture and science.”

Down in the hold, the lights came on automatically as they entered. It was not a really big space and apart from holding their food and water supplies, it was virtually empty.

The Martian artefact stood on a small shelf held securely in place by magnetic rods. Looking down at it in the harsh actinic light, Vic felt his eyes twist slightly out of focus as he tried to follow the hypnotically spiraling film of the faint gossamer-like sheen covering the inner surface.

Straightening, he said, “You know what that film is. It’s a plasma, highly ionized atoms held there by an intense electrical and magnetic field.”

“And that odd-looking globe of light in the middle?” Anne asked. “Any idea what that might be?”

The astronomer shook his head. “No idea at all.” He bent closer. “There’s also a small protrusion on the base here.” He touched it with his finger to indicate its position.

The next second, the tiny globe split into three, each glowing spark of light spinning away from the center, whirling about each other in a frenzy of seemingly chaotic motion. At the same moment, the ship gave a sudden violent lurch, throwing them all off balance.

“What the hell—?” Clive gasped. Somehow, he managed to steady himself.

Within a split second, the ship had righted itself and everything returned to normal. “Possibly the detectors picked up some object in our path and took avoiding action,” Clive said finally when nothing else happened. “But I’d better check the instruments.”

A thorough check revealed nothing abnormal. Everything was functioning perfectly.

Five days later, they were approaching Earth, now a vast crescent in the blackness. The retro-rockets came on, lowering them gently to the surface close to the terminator.

Opening the airlock, they stepped out. The sun was just rising and there, not more than half a mile away, stood the gleaming shapes of the other two ships.

Clive stared at them in utter amazement and opened his mouth to say something, but Anne cut in sharply, a rising note of alarm and puzzlement in her voice.

“Where is everything?”

All around them lay a wide, sandy stretch of uneven ground. In the distance, tall, fernlike trees waved huge branches in the faint dawn light.

“Something’s wrong,” Helen muttered in an awed whisper. “This can’t be Earth.”

“But it is,” Vic said with an odd catch in his voice. “Dear God, I see it all now. That thing we brought back with us. The Martians never conquered space as we have. They had no need to. You see, they conquered time instead.”

Helen shook her head numbly. “You’re not making sense, Vic.”

“Don’t you see? When Mars began dying and they were faced with that catastrophe, they transported everything several million years into the past when it was a younger, flourishing world.

“When I inadvertently activated that time machine, it did the same. That lurch we felt was a time shift. We’re back on Earth all right, there’s no mistake about that. But this is the Earth of several million years in the past!”

NIGHTFALL ON RONAN, by John Glasby Writing as A. J. Merak

Zanos, the small, blue-white sun of Ronan, was now well past its zenith and dipping slowly towards the horizon when Kalam stepped through the doorway to scan the green desert. He stood in the partial shade of the doorway and looked cautiously around. The emerald wilderness stretched away as far as the eye could see, featureless except for the irregular clumps of agas trees bordering the few streams that threaded their way across it—and the Temple.

This stood in the exact center of the Great Wilderness, a vast mound as big as a mountain, dominating the entire landscape. It was a colossus of metal, abraded and worn by long ages of wind and scouring sand, with the great dull doors set in the side facing to where either of the two suns stood at their highest point in the heavens. No one had ever discovered a means of opening those huge doors. No one knew what lay behind them except that it was the abode of the Great God. Whether it had been built by the Xordi after they had arrived on this world, no one knew. There were no records to tell them when it had been erected, or by whom.

He could see no sign, nor even sense, the presence of any of the Xordi. Usually, whenever they wished to converse with any of his race they manifested themselves in the form of thin, wavering columns of energy. Most of the time they were completely invisible.

There was a slight movement at his back and a moment later, Mara came out to stand beside him. There was a worried frown on her face.

“What are you looking for, Kalam?” she asked. “You’ve been on edge for hours.”

He stood silent and she was on the point of repeating her question when he said in a low voice, “Nothing in particular. It’s just a strange feeling I have that something is about to happen.”

“Something to do with the Xordi?”

“No, not them. This is something else.”

Mara saw his gaze flick in the direction of the Temple. Quite suddenly, he seemed oddly obsessed with it. To her, it seemed hat he had, for some reason, imbued it with some special significance, which had never been in his mind before.

In spite of its bulk and the mystery of what lay hidden behind those doors, no one now paid much attention to it. The Temple was there, it had always been there, just as the desert and the hills on the far distant skyline had always been there.

However she knew better than to continue to question him when he was in one of these peculiar moods. Instead, she said, “I hate these blue days. It gets so hot it’s impossible to do anything.”

A small cart, drawn by two shaggy, beak-faced voriin rumbled past along the narrow road. In spite of the frequent packing of the emerald surface by the sandrollers, the wheels sank deeply into the sand. The driver gave them a friendly wave, then reined the voriin to a halt in front of one of the houses further along the perimeter of the small settlement.

Kalam shrugged inwardly. No one else seemed to have this odd premonitory feeling that was tugging insidiously at his mind. Everything seemed normal—at least on the surface.

He eyed the setting sun apprehensively. In the opposite direction, the sky was losing its whiteness and taking on a pale crimson color heralding the rising of Toral, the companion red giant in this system. At times, he wondered why it was always light on this world. No sooner did one sun set, than the other rose, an endless alternation of blue heat and red coolness.

One of the Wise Men had once tried to explain it to him, that these two suns moved around each other in what he called space and somewhere very close to the center lay Ronan. But there were so many other things he didn’t know, couldn’t begin to understand, and it was his endless questioning of such things which seemed to place him apart from most of the others.

They were quite content to get on with their lives in this harsh, barren world without troubling themselves with anything else. But ever since he could remember he had listened attentively whenever one of the Wise Men had visited the small community to talk with the Elders. He had plied them with questions, many of which they had been unwilling, or unable, to answer.

Questions such as: when had the Xordi come to this system and where had they come from? He knew that their arrival must have been so long ago that no one remembered it. And the Xordi themselves never spoke of it. They seemed to be content with watching his people, never interfering in their lives, never giving advice, never answering any questions put to them.

This seemed utterly illogical to him. It they had come as conquerors, why had they not enslaved his people and forced them to work for them? Why, if they were so superior, had they not killed any of them?

Mara suddenly clutched tightly at his arm. She pointed into the blue-hazed distance. “Someone comes,” she said tautly.

He followed the direction of her pointing finger, squinting into the glaring sunlight. He could dimly make out the indistinct figure in the distance moving purposefully towards them. The ripping heat-haze made it impossible to discern details with any clarity.

As the stranger approached, Kalam saw that he was a tall, white-haired man dressed in a white robe that shone brilliantly in the fierce, glaring rays of the setting sun. He carried a long staff in his right hand.

“One if the Wise Men,” Mara said in an awed voice. “What do you think he wants with us?”

Kalam shrugged slightly. “Such men come and go all the time. He may be journeying to some other community and merely seeks food and shelter.”

As the Wise man drew closer, Kalam saw that he was old, incredibly old, his features deeply wrinkled. But his eyes were still keen and alert. He paused in front of them, leaning heavily on his staff.

“Greetings, Kalam,” he said, in a thin, reedy voice. “I have journeyed a long way for this meeting. I must speak with you on matters of great importance.”

Stunned that the other knew his name, Kalam stood staring, open-mouthed for several moments, then pulled himself together with a conscious effort. He stepped to one side, throwing a swift glance at Mara as the Wise man brushed past him.

“I don’t know how you know my name,” Kalam said slowly as he motioned the old man to one of the chairs at the table. “Nor of anything of importance which concerns me.”

A faint smile twitched across the thin lips. “I know many things, young Kalam. But there are others, which are, unfortunately, beyond even my knowledge. Perhaps if you have some water and—”

“But of course,” Mara broke in. “You must be hungry and thirsty. I’ll get you some food and drink.”

She went into the small kitchen at the rear, returning a few minutes later with meat, fruit, and a flask. Setting them down on the table, she moved away into the corner as Kalam seated himself opposite their guest.

The Wise Man ate ravenously, remaining silent until he had finished eating. Then he pushed his plate away and sat back in his chair. Kalam eyed him with some trepidation. It seemed abundantly clear that the old man had traveled all the way across the Great Wilderness in the blistering heat of Zanos. How one so old and frail had succeeded in traveling all that way on foot was beyond Kalam’s comprehension.

“You say there are matters we have to talk about,” Kalam began hesitantly. The feeling of disquietude that had plagued him for some time now abruptly increased, knotting the muscles of his stomach. “But why me? Why not one of the Elders?”

“Because you are one of the few with a thirst for knowledge. You question things. You do not merely accept them as others do. You wish to know why things as they are. You seek a meaning beyond all of this.”

The old man waved an arm to encompass the house and the desert that lay beyond the open door. “Unlike most of the others, you’re not content with knowing just the simple, everyday things. You wish to know what lies behind them.”

“But—”

“Listen well to all I have to say. You may not understand all of it but I will try to answer any questions you may have.”

Kalam rested his elbows on the table and waited for the other to go on. He was acutely aware that Mara was watching him closely from the corner of the room.

Drawing in a deep breath that seemed to pain him, the Wise Man began, “You know of us, the keepers of the ancient lore. For thousands of years this knowledge has been passed down through the centuries. Unfortunately, over such a long period of time, some of it has become so garbled that it is difficult to sift the truth from myth. Furthermore, much has been irretrievably lost which should have been remembered.

“What I have to tell you concerns a prophecy which comes from the very beginning of time. It is said that there will come a day when the Night and the Blackness will fall upon Ronan and it is then that the Great God will speak to everyone from the Temple.”

Kalam shook his head numbly. “Night, The Blackness? What are they?”

The Wise Man pursed his lips into a thin, straight line. He glanced about him, then pointed towards the doorway where the shadow fell across it.

“I know nothing of Night,” he said. “But there, in the doorway. Blackness is like that but far more intense than you can possibly imagine. In it, you will see nothing. Yet it is also said that great wonders will appear in the sky once the Blackness falls, to herald the coming of the Great God. You must prepare yourselves for this, you and all of your neighbors.”

Kalam tried to swallow in a throat gone suddenly dry. “And when will this happen? Do you know?”

“Soon. That is all I can say. Much of the prophecy has been lost over the thousands of years since it was first given to us. Perhaps the Xordi know more. I have asked, several times, when they’ve condescended to speak to me. But they either know nothing, or they refuse to tell me. Maybe they will speak to you.”

“The Xordi?”

Kalam felt a shiver of dread pass through him. No one knew anything about the Xordi. His father and grandfather had spoken of them so they must have come to this world a long time before.

Certainly they had never acted as attackers. Most of the time, it seemed that as far as the Xordi were concerned, his race didn’t exist.

He ran his tongue around his lips. “And the Great God who dwells in the Temple yonder—why does he not show himself? Does anyone know that he really exists? Or is that just some old legend?”

“He must,” the old man insisted. “Otherwise, why does the Temple exist?”

Kalam could think of no answer to that. He knew that whenever some great calamity threatened the people, some of them muttered prayers to the Great God but whether they were answered or not, he didn’t know. As far as he was concerned, the Temple was nothing more than a monument built by his remote ancestors to serve some unknown, and unknowable, purpose.

The old man gripped his staff and rose shakily to his feet. “Have the Xordi ever communicated with you, Kalam?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” Kalam admitted. “But they never tell me anything important and they never answers any questions I put to them.”

“That isn’t surprising. In the past there has been no urgency. But now things are different. My advice to you is to seek them out. It may be they know far more than I do. If they know how short a time there is left before the fulfilling of the prophecy, they may be more inclined to talk.”

He turned and moved with shuffling steps towards the door.

Mara stepped forward. “Won’t you rest here for a time? You’ve clearly traveled far and—”

“Thank you, but no. I must visit all of the communities in this region before my task is gone and there is now so little time.”

Kalam stood in the doorway and watched him walk away.

Even before Zanos had dipped below the horizon, Toral had lifted much of its large red bulk above the opposite skyline, flooding the desert with a deep carmine glow. The air became appreciably cooler. Although Toral was far larger than Zanos, it emitted appreciably less heat and Kalam preferred the red days to the blue ones.

The majority of people on Ronan slept during much of the blue days for it was almost impossible to work in the fierce heat of Zanos’ blue-white glare.

“What are you going to do?” Mara asked. “I heard the words the Wise Man spoke but they made no sense to me. What is this Blackness, which is coming to Ronan? There is no such thing.”

“Perhaps not,” Kalam admitted. “Perhaps it’s just another myth like the Great God.”

He was still terribly contused but now there was a strange urge in his mind, an intense desire to find out more of what the old man had told him.

Whether it was some compulsion put upon him by the Wise Man’s hypnotic words, or something which had been growing inside him for some time, he didn’t know. But it was there and there was no way he could fight it. He had to find one of the Xordi and try to get some answers.

“There’s only one thing I can do. Somehow, I must question one of the Xordi.”

“And how do you do that? I know very little about them but from what I’ve heard they only speak with us when they wish it. And why is it up to you to do this?”

“Didn’t you hear anything the Wise Man said?”

Mara’s face hardened. “I heard enough to know he spoke of some prophecy thousands of years old. And I know enough to realize that these old stories are nothing more than superstition.”

She turned and went back into the house. Kalam could hear her rattling the dishes in the kitchen in her exasperation.

He waited for a while to give her time to calm down. By now almost the whole of Toral’s immense disc was clear of the horizon with only a small segment still hidden behind the rim of the world. He eyed it speculatively. It looked far too large to hang up there in the sky without crashing down upon Ronan. Large, irregular dark spots marred part of its surface and occasionally, long streamers of red flame spouted from its surface.

Its carmine light made the sand of the desert appear darker than during the blue days and it threw few shadows apart from the massive one cast by the looming bulk of the Temple.

When he considered that Mara might have entered a more stable, logical frame of mind, he went back into the house and stood in the kitchen doorway. She did not look round although she knew he was there.

“I’ve made my decision,” he said finally. “I have to do as the Wise Man advised and try to get some answers from the Xordi.”

Without turning her head, she said, “And where do you think you’ll find any of them? They could be anywhere and you wouldn’t know it. For all you can tell, there could be one standing right beside you at this moment.”

“I think I’d be able to sense it if there were,” he replied. “But as to finding them, they’ve only come when I’ve been completely alone, away from everyone else.”

“So you intend to go off and sit by yourself somewhere in the desert?” Mara sniffed and spread her hands in resignation. “I can see you’ve already made up your mind and nothing I say will stop you in this foolishness.”

* * * *

Kalam sat cross-legged in the dim shadow of the Temple and tried to empty his mind completely. It was not easy for even though he closed his eyes against the crimson light, stray thoughts kept nagging at him, demanding his attention.

How long he sat there it was impossible to tell. Utter silence enfolded him like a cocoon. Then, abruptly, he opened his eyes. Was it his imagination, or was there the feel of presences all around him? He could see nothing. But then he hadn’t really expected to. Unless the Xordi intended to communicate, they wouldn’t show themselves. He shivered. The Xordi were so different to himself that even being in their presence was uncomfortable. Not that they ever made any show of aggression but—

His train of thought suddenly gelled inside his head.

A voice, cold and sexless, suddenly echoed in his mind. ‘You come to seek information from us.’ It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes. I wish to know what you can tell me about the Blackness.”

‘The Blackness? Then you are aware that it approaches swiftly, that soon it will fall upon this world.’

“So I’ve been told. But can you tell me what it is and when it will come?”

There was a long pause and then: ‘We cannot explain to you what the Blackness is for it is something beyond your comprehension. But this we will tell you. You know of the two suns of this world, the small blue-white one and the large red one. What you do not know is that there is another sun, one which does not shine like the others.’

“Then why have we never seen it?”

‘Because for many thousands of years it has been elsewhere. We cannot explain where it has been, you lack the necessary knowledge to understand. But heed this. It will return by the second mid-blue sun from now. What its coming portends we do not know.’

“Is that all?” Kalam asked.

‘That is all we can tell you. All you can do now is warn the others of your kind.’ The echoing voice faded into silence inside Kalam’s head.

Kalam shook his head mutely. Another sun but one that only appeared at intervals of many thousands of years? A sun that did not shine at all? He did not doubt the veracity of the Xordi, but it made no sense. He could see no way by which it tallied with what the Wise Man had said. Yet, somewhere, there had to be a connection.

* * * *

Just before the middle of the second blue day the entire community was out in the open. All of the houses were empty. Word had spread quickly, not only through their community, but through all of the others around the perimeter of the Great Wilderness.

Ever since Zanos had risen that day, Kalam had experienced a resurgence of that strange apprehension which had gripped him just before the coming of the Wise Man. Now it was so strong, so powerful, it seemed to blot out everything else from his thoughts. Throughout the community there was an expectancy in the air which he had never known before.

Zanos climbed slowly towards its zenith.

The sense of premonition in Kalam’s mind mounted swiftly until it became an irresistible compulsion. He had to go to the Temple! Unable to help himself, he began walking across the sand towards the towering doors only vaguely aware that all of the others were doing likewise, moving like automatons without a will of their own.

From all of the other communities, from every direction, the people were converging on the Temple. Hundreds of them; thousands. A dark mass that covered much of the desert.

Kalam heard a few brief snatches of muttered conversation around him but for the most part the vast multitude was silent; waiting.

Waiting for what? he wondered.

Something made him turn his head, away from the massive doors of the Temple, towards the glaring sky. He experienced a sudden shiver of superstitious awe. Something was happening to Zanos! From one side of the sun, a huge mass was moving slowly across it.

The silence around him intensified. Then a sudden loud cry jerked his head around. The—Blackness?—moved in an irresistible wave across the world. It began at the edge of his vision, far off, moving over the sand. It slid across the great metal doors and two things happened almost simultaneously.

Above their heads, the Blackness stretched across most of the heavens—but it was not empty. It blazed with points of light; lights of all degrees of brightness, twinkling across a range of colors.

And then, in front of them, the massive doors slid open without a sound. The chamber inside was vast, almost beyond Kalam’s comprehension, and it was lit by enormous arrays of multi-colored lights.

Driven forward by the weird compulsion in his mind, Kalam went through the gates with Mara at his side. He felt utterly dwarfed by the sheer immensity of the cave. Soundlessly, the multitude followed.

Then a voice reached them from some hidden source. It was not unduly loud but it could be heard by everyone there.

“Welcome, people of Ronan. Now is the time for you to fulfill your destiny. More than twenty thousand years ago your motherworld became uninhabitable due to the total destruction of the protective ozone layer in its upper atmosphere. It was then that the decision was taken to send chosen groups to all of the inhabitable planets within a radius of one thousand light years, to colonize those worlds and, when the ozone layer had replenished itself, to enable you to return to your homeworld.

“Those whom you know as the Xordi are not newcomers, they are the indigenous inhabitants of Ronan. You are the interlopers but all knowledge of that was erased from the minds of the first colonists. Only the myths surrounding the Temple and the Great God were allowed to remain.

“We knew of Kalder, the dark star in this system. Only when it returned after twenty thousand years in its eccentric orbit would its shadow open these doors to allow you to enter. Now go forward and be not afraid.”

The message ended. In the silence that followed, Kalam turned to face Mara. Without a word being spoken, she took his hand and led him forward. Others followed in a long, winding column, not knowing where they were going or what would happen next.

Then, when they were only a little distance from the far end of the chamber, the entire wall slid aside. Kalam gaped at what he saw. It was a long, gleaming shape, tapered slightly at one end. He could see no windows but there was a rectangular aperture in the side with steps leading up to it. A faint bluish light gleamed from inside.

There was also something near the bottom of the steps, twin metal poles, each surmounted by a glittering crystal, these forming some kind of barrier. Cautiously, he passed through with Mara on his heels. Halfway up the steps, he glanced back. Many of those attempting to pass between the poles were unable to do so. It was as if something invisible prevented them, forcing them back to one side.

Mounting the steps, they passed inside the machine. Here, there were long rows of padded seats along each side. Awed by the sheer size of everything, Kalam sat down and waited tensely. To Mara, he said, “It would seem that only a small number of us have been allowed to enter the Temple. For some reason, the Great God did not allow most of the others to follow.” He frowned, looking about him. “And only we younger people seem to have been chosen.”

Outside, once those who had been selected had passed through, the portal vanished and the wide aperture in the side of the gleaming shape closed soundlessly.

The voice came again, loud and urgent. “All those remaining in the chamber must leave the area immediately. You are in danger if you remain. Leave at once!”

Kalam and Mara heard nothing of this. All of the seats around them were now occupied and a different voice spoke. “You are the chosen ones. There is no need to be afraid. This ship is fully automatic. The Dejener engines enable it to travel far faster than light, otherwise the journey would take many more years than any of you have left.”

Kalam stiffened abruptly in his seat. A low, muted humming had begun, just at the limit of audibility. It rose swiftly until it was an ear-piercing shriek, then faded almost instantly as it passed into a range where his ears no longer registered it.

There was a faint lurch, a transition too swift to be taken in. Although he had no visual awareness of it, Ronan was gone, lost in the void. A curious twisting sensation gripped him briefly as if every molecule of his being had been turned inside out. He was aware only of Mara’s hand gripping his own as the starship, which had waited with an infinite patience for twenty thousand years, headed into the blackness, to return their race to the planet of their birth—a world waiting to be reborn.

THE DRAINPIPE, by Philip E. High

The Ilurine had been through a rough time and needed replenishment. She needed an area with the correct level of solar radiation as partially screened by atmosphere, and the nearest was a planet its inhabitants called Earth. She did not know it as Earth and a quick sense survey did nothing to endear her to it. She judged on emotional values and the general standards of the inhabitants were pathetically primitive. There were, however, exceptions. This youth approaching through the quiet woods was one of them. She lifted his age from his mind—twelve local cycles. Would he make twenty? She doubted it very much.

She realized suddenly that if he continued on his present route he would see her. In a normal state she could have rendered herself invisible but, at the moment, she lacked the strength.

His reaction, when he saw her, was a pleasant surprise. Shock, yes, nervousness, yes, but very little actual fear. The predominant reaction was care; he thought she was ill or injured. Again, when she was absorbing she shivered and he thought she was cold.

He frowned down at her. “You poor little thing,” he said, and, “I won’t hurt you, no need to be afraid, I won’t hurt you, honest.”

Then, very slowly, he took off his jacket, and laid it gently across her body. “Warm you up a bit, eh?”

Compassion! It lifted him far above the majority of his race and was the standard by which she judged all intelligence.… It made him vulnerable, his chances of reaching maturity very doubtful. Compassion generated compassion; she must move him to a word like his own with the same type of intelligences. However, it would take time and in the meantime something must be devised to protect him.…

* * * *

The city utility services, generally known as the Clerk Of Works, dealt with every possible need of the city. Blocked drains, holes in pavements, maintaining highways, mending walls and countless other things which a community requires.

The organization’s offices are scattered round the city and, for reasons unknown, look very much the same. All are not quite sure if they are offices or workshops. Benches are often used as desks or desks as benches, most of them have nails driven into the walls from which hang clips holding written orders or printed instructions. Some are visibly yellowing with age but no one bothers to remove them.

The desks are not much better and Quentin had to push maps and instructions to the very edge of his desk to find the phone.

“Yeah?” He listened, his face darkening. “You having me on? Right, take it easy. Yes—yes—I know you wouldn’t—just run that past me again.”

He listened again, his face becoming puzzled rather than disbelieving. “Right, I’ll come out, but it had better be genuine. I’m very busy and I’m not happy about this business, not happy at all.”

Here placed the receiver and shook his head. “I’ll have to go out for a short while,”

Limerton, crouched behind a corner desk, said, “What was all that about?”

“To be honest, damned if I know exactly! That was Jim Page at the old sports ground.”

“Not drunk is he? He’s only classified as a laborer.”

Quentin, loyal by nature, slapped him down. “Page has been with the department for twenty five years. He may not be a great brain but he’s utterly reliable and completely honest.”

“Sorry, only reading from the Works List here. I’ve never met the man. What is the problem anyway?”

“I have to go because I can’t tell you. It’s a weird sort of story about a drainpipe if you can make sense of that.”

Quentin arrived at the old sports center twenty minutes later. The complex had become too small for the expanding city and a larger, more modem set-up was being erected elsewhere.

Page lifted the barrier for Quentin’s car to enter then stood unmoving while he got out. The man’s face, usually ruddy, seemed oddly streaked and inclined to twitch.

“What’s the trouble?” Quentin thought that Page looked frightened out of his wits.

“It’s one of them pipes, Mr. Quentin, you know, one them old fashioned metal ones what used to lead up to the changing rooms. There were four when I left at five o’clock, lying together near the West entrance. When I come in this morning there were only three. I found the other one later, right in the middle of the old sports field.”

Quentin was about to say ‘kids’ and changed his mind. The pipes were twenty-five metres in length; it would take a lot of very hefty kids to carry one that far.

“I think you said that the pipe was queer too.”

“Yes, Mr. Quentin but it’s something you’ll have to see, I can’t explain it properly.”

As they reached the edge of the sports field, Quentin frowned at the ravaged surface. “What the hell made all this mess? Think the pipe was dragged across by a tractor?”

“If it was, Mr. Quentin, they must have brought their own. Our two packed up within a day of each other, not expected back until the middle of the week.”

Quentin frowned and strode on. The whole damn business was turning into— Reasoning thought was cut suddenly and a huge no seemed to fill his mind.

He remembered the pipe was twenty-five metres long but he had forgotten the other measurements. He knew the pipe would not quite admit the normal clenched fist and he thought the outer casing was as thick as his—but there his memory stopped because there was a bulge in the middle of the pipe.

The bulge—or should it be a huge bubble?—was about five metres in length and measured at its widest point, around two to two and half metres both in thickness and diameter.

“You can’t do that, Mr. Quentin,” said Page, “you can’t put pressure inside that stuff to make it expand, it would simply splinter. It won’t swell outwards like heated glass, ’cause it ain’t proper metal like.”

“Someone seems to have found an answer.” Quentin went closer, took a coin from his pocket and tapped the metal cautiously. “Doesn’t sound like metal,” he said. “No echo at all.”

“I think.…” Page paused to clear his throat and started again. “I think there’s something stuck in there, Mr. Quentin., stuck in the bulge like. Look. sir, I’ve got to say this—if you sniff at either end of that pipe, there’s a right nasty smell.”

“The hell there is!” Quentin took a cautious sniff himself and almost retched, the picture of a slit trench clear in his mind. Whatever was in that pipe might not be human but the smell of decay was unmistakable.

There seemed to be only one answer: he called Landring at the police station. It was a good choice. Inspector Landring was a political policeman who had his eye on a position in the Mayor’s office.

“You were quite right to call me, Quentin. As you say, there might be a dead dog or a badger in there but the situation raises questions. Something a bit weird about the whole business and the very last thing we want is the press and the media getting wind of it.”

He frowned, ruddy faced, thumbs stuck into his belt. “I’ll go back and change into civvies, come in an unmarked car; no need to advertise a police presence in the area. The Mayor wants to present a picture of an open, safe, seaside city, suitable for families, you know what I mean.”

He turned towards his car. “I’ll bring someone back to open up this pipe for, for all I know, it could be full of dead rats.”

He was back in twenty minutes with a little bald man and a bag of tools. He didn’t look like a police employee but he knew his job.

Within minutes he said, in a frightened voice: “There’s a man’s shoe here, Superintendent, and his foot’s still in it.”

It took a full two hours to reveal the complete body The face looked blotchy but the features were recognizable.

Landring said: “Well, well! ‘Basher’ Cole, full name Silas Manton Cole. No mistake, half his left eyebrow missing, anchor tattoo on left wrist. He’s an ex-pug, spent most of his life in prison, came out a couple of months ago. Just done a ten year stretch for robbery with violence.”

He paused and looked thoughtfully at Quentin. “No one is going to miss him, are they? No relatives of any kind. Point is, this could be swept away with the minimum of fuss. He could have been found dead, exposure, heart attack.”

Quentin shook his head. “Fine until you get to the medical examiner.”

“Yes, yes, you have a point there.” Landring nodded slowly and thoughtfully but his face was untroubled. Doctor Pierce LeGraton would be the examiner: married, highly respectable with a large influential family background. Surely the doctor would like his assignations with a certain lady at ninety two Lake Street to remain a secret?

Landring smiled. “I know I can rely on you, old son.”

Quentin said: “Of course,” fully conscious that it was the wrong answer, but hell, he only had eight weeks to go before retirement. He didn’t want some upset threatening his pension. Again, no one was going to lose anything by a little blindness on his part.

Landring interrupted his thoughts. “What about him?” he said and jerked his head in the direction of Page.

“Oh, I’ll have a word with him later,” said Quentin. “He’ll keep quiet.”

He thought, when Landring had gone, what did he mean by a word? He meant, of course, a deliberate lie. He had told Page, who trusted him, that he must keep his mouth shut because certain aspects of National Security were involved.

His thoughts turned back to the incident itself. He could well see reasons for hushing the matter up and sweeping the whole affair under the carpet but the man’s indifference defeated him. A man’s body had been found in the middle of a drainpipe, the ends of which would not have admitted his clenched fist. Apparently Landring wasn’t even interested, his only concern was to get everything out of sight as soon as possible.

Quentin shrugged mentally, he supposed that attitude was called single mindedness but it didn’t apply to him. In point of fact it did but he was unable to see it at the time. The vow of silence he had imposed upon Page was about to be broken by himself,

That evening he called in on his lifelong friend Ben Hoathe, and told him the whole story He had a certain justification; Hoathe had been with the police department for thirty years and had only recently retired as Detective Inspector.

Hoathe pushed the lank, graying hair away from his forehead and smiled.

“I believe you, man, of course, but run it through again and give me the chance to ask questions.”

Forty minutes later he thrust a short, black pipe into his mouth and began to chew it, frowning. He never lit it but it always helped him to think. “Give me a couple of days to scout around, meet you in Harry’s Bar around seven on Friday.”

Hoathe arrived on time two days later and gulped at his beer before he spoke. “I’ll be honest got quite a bit, but some of it I’m holding back because there’s more I need to know. I have to fit the parts together in my own mind first. However, I’m sure you’ll be interested to know that ‘Basher’ Cole died of a heart attack due to an excess of alcohol. The body was found by a workman taking a short cut to Clarges Street via the old sports complex.”

“What about the Medical Examiner’s report?”

“That is the report.”

“Dear God!”

“Exactly my own reaction but there’s more, old son, due to some mismanagement of the lists, the body has already been cremated.”

Quentin frowned. “I don’t like the sound of this, could be repercussions.”

“Not for you, old friend, I’ll just keep you in the picture, you’re not involved.”

He paused and changed the subject. “They had to go through the motions of course, looking for witnesses, those who might have been in the area before or around the time.”

“Did they find any?”

“Well, yes, but it’s not thought to be important. A young lad, Tommy Beal, was seen leaving the sports area just before dusk on the night in question. They’ll send a man round tomorrow just to ask a few questions. They don’t expect much—the boy is only twelve.”

* * * *

Emotionally, Tommy Beal was an old twelve. His introduction to school and much of his experience since had been a living hell.

He was different, children can sense that sort of thing. He was frail, quietly spoken and well mannered. As such he became an almost instant target for bullies. Worse, although in his early days he was often reduced to tears, he never fought back. On the other hand he never ran telling tales to the teachers. It seemed to make no difference, he was subjected to every humiliation and minor cruelty that his classmates could conceive. Glue or bright paint were squeezed onto his chair just before he sat down. Notices were frequently stuck to his back bearing the words KICK ME or a similar unpleasant invitation.

The real reason, yet again, was the fact that he was different. He didn’t join school sports and the only exercise at which he excelled was swimming. Here, too, he placed himself beyond the pail—he refused to compete.

“You could out-swim young Nolan by a length, lad, beat him hollow.”

“I don’t want to beat anyone, sir, I just like swimming.”

His tastes, also, were considered outlandish. He was not interested in the things which concerned normal boys, he was much more concerned with nature. He spent a lot of his spare time in the country studying plants, birds and insects.

His foster-father virtually disowned him in public. “Studying bloody birds and flowers, it’s not natural, is it? Sissy pastime in my opinion, okay for girls, but for a boy, well, I ask you!”

Not everyone disapproved of him, there were a large number of women who secretly wished they had sons like him. He was so quiet and well-mannered, he held doors open for ladies and things like that.

The elderly were more forthcoming. “You want an errand done or some small thing like that, just ask young Tommy Beal and you can’t go wrong.”

This, of course, increased the opposition even more; ‘he was sucking up to the old people’ and ‘he took money for it, of course’.

To the majority, however, it was just a blind unthinking cruelty that would eventually die but with one lad it had turned to hatred.

His name was Wayne Cantra, a large boy with ginger hair and a heavy freckled face. He hated Beal because somehow the smaller boy made him feel inferior and he wouldn’t fight. Wayne was sadistic, he favored a savage kidney punch or an agonizing kick to the knee or ankle. With the passing of time, however, a great deal of support began to fall away, particularly among the girls.

“Leave the poor little devil alone, can’t yer, this has gone on long enough.”

A fair number of the boys were changing, too. “He don’t hurt no one and he never runs to the teachers.”

Worse, although Beal wouldn’t fight he had become skilled at ducking and weaving. He rode a large number of the blows and evaded quite a few more. Recently Wayne had thrown heavy blows at Beal’s head, only to strike empty air and nearly lose his balance.

Infuriated, Wayne began to organize special tactics. One of which was to snatch Beal’s school books as the day ended. These he would throw into the road, preferably just in front of the approaching school bus.

Needless to say, young Beal paid for this at home.

“You think I want to buy the school, boy? How many times have I got to buy the bloody books that you can’t take care of?”

Despite these apparent successes, Wayne was becoming desperate.

Support was now falling away on an almost weekly basis and Wayne could only rely on four lads of his own age who hated Tommy Beal almost much as he did.

“Tell you what we’ll do, getting a bit dangerous to rough him up properly here. When he goes out in the country on one of them weekend walks of his, we’ll follow out of sight and spring the little bastard on the way back.”

The weekend they choose was the one in which Tommy Beal found the alien.

He had not the slightest idea that the creature was out of this world and his innocence was complete. He had read in the papers and had it underlined on television that there was a vast and illegal trade in exotic creatures from abroad. Probably it was one of those, come from India or Malaysia, somewhere like that. He liked it, he had the feeling it liked him and it was in trouble—he could sense that. In any case, he could tell it was freezing cold by the way it was shivering. He covered it carefully with his jacket and thought: ‘perhaps she’s thirsty.’ There was a small stream just below and he always carried a tin mug.

Half way back he wondered why he thought of the thing as a ‘she’ but in his mind it sort of fitted and he did not question it again.

When he returned, however, she had gone. There was an impression in the grass where she had been with his jacket, neatly folded, beside it but there was no clue as to where she had gone.

He worried about her for some time, hoping she’d made it to safety. He had the odd feeling he had missed something very precious.

On his way back home he noticed a small blue flower in the long grass, which he did not recognize. Unfortunately it was protected by the thin, barbed branches of a hawthorn. What he needed was something like a piece of wood to hold those branches back.

Ah! A length of dead sapling, a bit long and worm-eaten in places but strong enough for the job.

He lifted it and stretched forward but the rear part seemed caught on something, probably held by bindweed or ivy, something like that. It was held so firmly that it almost seemed to be jerked from his hand and he nearly lost his balance.

He stood upright again and looked around. Where the devil had it gone? Oh yes, probably in that bed of nettles over there. Well he was not going to there, hang that for a pastime.

It was then, less than forty metres distant, hidden by trees, someone screamed.

There were shouts, a splintering of small branches and a terrified voice: “Get it off of me, get it off!” Another scream and: “It’s got my bloody legs—get it away from me!”

He hurried towards the sound and found two of the boys supporting Wayne an either side.

“What happened?”

“We was attacked.” All had forgotten the reason they were in the woods. “Damn great snake, we all saw it.”

“It nearly got me.” Wayne was blubbering. “Tied itself round my legs and brought me down—look.”

There were deep impressions, bruised and slightly bleeding round calf and shin of both legs. It looked as if a thick wire had been tied there and suddenly jerked tight.

“I thought I was going to die.” Tears ran down Wayne’s face.

“A boa constrictor,” said one of the boys.

“According to Mr. Brixton at the school, there are no large snakes in this part of the country,” said one of the boys.

“Just because he’s a master doesn’t mean he knows everything,” said another. “In any case we all saw it—must have escaped from somewhere, a zoo or something.”

From that day on, Wayne seemed to lose fire. It was two weeks before he tried to mount something again, but that, too, went wrong. Two were stung by wasps, and a third was fouled by a seagull before the latest trick had begun.

Wayne’s last supporters slowly detached themselves from the group. Varying excuses were used but the implications were clear: they had formed their own conclusions. Play hell with another poor little bastard if you like but not with Beal, not anymore, it always backfires on us.

Wayne was beginning to draw the same conclusions himself and began to start a line of verbal persecution. ‘Young Tommy Beal is a bit queer if you ask me, goes in for occult stuff. I’ve got an aunt from Europe somewhere who said he had the evil eye as soon as she saw him’.

* * * *

It was only a few weeks after this that Cole’s body was found. Landring, having made sure that everything was carefully swept under the carpet, continued with the exterior motions. An elderly detective named Ransom was given the job of checking for witnesses in case someone had seen Cole in an inebriated state beforehand.

No, but someone had seen young Tommy Beal leaving the complex about half an hour before dusk, maybe he had seen the man.

The detective duly presented himself at Beal’s house.

“He’s still at school. Don’t tell me that the little swine has got himself wrong with the law now?”

“Oh, no, sir, nothing like that, no question of it all—troublesome lad, is he, sir?”

“Not in the way you mean it, Detective Ransom, no, but weird, not like other boys if you know what I mean?”

Ransom didn’t but it might be worthwhile finding out later. “Would six this evening be a suitable time, sir?”

* * * *

Ransom was quick to note that the boy was different but this he quickly brushed aside. He was more interested in the immediate reaction; clearly the lad was terrified. He was shaking visibly and he stuttered occasionally.

“Never been interviewed by the police before, Tommy?”

“No, sir, never.”

“Nothing to be afraid of, laddie, you’re not involved in any way. All we are looking for is witnesses. Someone who was later taken ill while taking the short cut through the old sports complex—a big tall man in blue jeans.”

“I didn’t see anyone like that, sir. I didn’t see any man at all, I swear sir.”

“No problem, lad, no problem at all. If you saw no one, that’s it.” He laid his hand briefly on the boy’s shoulder. “Tell you what, son. I’ll leave it today; I can see you’re a bit upset. You’re not used to the police, I can see that. I’ll give you a call around the same time tomorrow. Time to settle down, eh? And, maybe you’ll remember something tomorrow.”

* * * *

The local police always favored the same bar, The Grapevine, and Hoathe still favored it even after retirement. He met old colleagues there and it always relaxed his mind to talk ‘shop’.

It was not quite coincidence that he choose Ransom’s table. He said: “What’ll you have? You look as if you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

“I’ll have my usual, thanks. And, yes, I have not only a lot on my mind but too much on my plate as well. First that hold up in Welsh Drive, a near fatal domestic out at Potter’s Field, but I’ve been handed that damn Beal kid as well.”

“Having trouble there?”

“You could say that—the little bastard has done a runner. I gave him a break as he was obviously nervous, said I would call next day, which I did, but he’d gone. His father said he’d done it properly, taken quite a bit of stuff with him. He added, as I left, “If you can’t find the little swine, expect no tears from me.”

Ransom sighed. “It means, of course, I’ll have to search his room for leads.”

Hoathe saw his chance. “You could delegate, a retired officer in good health, say with the permission of an area officer etc, etc. Hell, it’s well within the non-hazardous section.”

“They’d pay peanuts for that, a day’s work would hardly buy a beer.”

“True, but I get hellish bored, y’know—”

* * * *

Two days later he dropped some written pages on Quentin’s front room table.

“What’s this lot?”

“The kid kept a diary in an old exercise book, found it hidden in his bedroom. I’d like you to look it through for me, I’ve quite a few facts, to bring together myself.”

Quentin looked again at the pages, noted that they were a copy and started to read.

An hour later Hoathe rejoined him. “You’ve read it through?”

“Three times, the boy was not quite right in his head, was he? I mean, it’s all sheer fantasy, it couldn’t happen.”

“Mind if I just follow through, old chum? I happen to have quite a few facts which are unknown to you. For instance, Ransom was dead sure that the boy knew a damn sight more than he was saying and that was the reason he ran away.”

“Right, old friend, we’ll play this any way you want, but I still think it comes from a lad with a disturbed mind.”

Hoathe shrugged. “I wish it was that simple. I could dismiss it but the facts won’t let me. As a starter, does he describe the alien?”

“Well, not in detail, no. He says she was a sort of shining, silver-white with huge golden eyes.”

“Does he refer, or imply in any way at all, that he thought she was an alien?”

Quentin frowned. “I see what you’re driving at and you’re quite right. He thought she came from India and, no, he makes no mental connection with the events he recounts and her.”

Hoathe nodded quickly. “Fine, now you keep giving an outline and I’ll fill in the facts when appropriate.”

“Right, well, the next incident he mentions concerns that bully boy, Wayne. You remember that he was attacked by and brought down by a snake. You know, and I know, that there are no snakes of any size in this part of the country. We checked and nothing had escaped from anywhere. The point is that the dead sapling, which he was using and felt had been snatched from his hand, had somehow got there before him. It was lying about two metres away. Wayne and young Beal recognized it instantly. Only later did he begin to draw conclusions and—”

Hoathe interrupted him quickly “Got to hold you there to make another point. As stated earlier, young Tommy ran away from home but he was picked up four days later. He’d been hiding out with an ancient aunt a few miles up the coast. He was brought back and put in a cell to be questioned later.”

“A cell, a proper cell, for a kid of twelve!”

“My thoughts exactly, but blame Landring. In any case, if you don’t, a lot of people will. Much to my satisfaction he’ll never talk his way out of this one.”

Hoathe paused and gulped at his beer before dropping his bombshell. “When someone went to let him out, the boy had gone. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know how. That is the real reason I have failed to agree with you on this fantasy angle. The cell door had a manual lock and an electro-magnetic lock which could only be opened by the primary duty officer.”

Quentin pushed the printed pages away from him. “No more for me, please, my theories are giving way to a kind of coldness inside which I don’t care for.”

“A feeling shared! Care to hear my theory?” Hoathe did not wait for an answer. “The alien he met—and there can be no doubt she was exactly that—took pity on him or took a liking to him. She saw that his life was pretty hellish and devised a means to protect him until she could do more.”

“How to protect him?” Quentin was getting out of his depth

“After his meeting with the alien, some inner faculty inside him warned his unconscious mind of approaching trouble. Anything he was touching at the time was given a brief pseudo life in his defense.”

“Oh God, that length of sapling!” Quentin could see it suddenly in his mind, turning suddenly from an object of wood into something lithe and scaled.

“The boy’s defense faculty seemed able to discriminate,” said Hoathe. “Something nasty for something nasty and an unpleasant deterrent for a mild scheme. The boy describes how part of the school wall seemed to come alive beneath his hand. How wasps went sailing over that wall and down onto the little group below.”

“Shut up!” said Quentin hoarsely. “Just shut up.” He felt as if unseen fingers were touching his body and encasing it in ice. He could see it all, the boy, well dressed, clearly of good background, taking a short cut through the complex. Cole, also in the complex, the worse for drink and probably short of money. There was a quick and easy hit, a bloody school kid probably with money.

It seemed to Quentin that the picture became even more real in his mind. Must have been near the West entrance with Cole lurching out from behind that broken wall there.

The little boy, terrified, staggering back, touching one of the pipes by accident, and then—?

In his mind Quentin saw the pipe, ripple, shine, develop jaws and rise in an enormous black loop above Cole—

He forced the picture from his mind. “It’s absurd, wilder that fantasy. We have to assume that whatever it was that took Cole as far as the playing field lost its short life there and became a pipe again.”

“My reactions entirely.” Hoathe might have been reading the other’s thoughts. “There is only one dreadful contradiction. The police surgeon looked over Cole’s body before it went the examiner. He swore to several witnesses, on oath, that some surface areas of the body had been—partly digested!”

THE GUNMAN, by Philip E. High

Needless to say, the formula in any state was illegal.

It had been discovered and stolen by a research chemist working for one of the big combines in the West.

He was well aware that the formula, given to his employers, would bring him little or no reward. Handled illegally and to the right people, however would bring rich rewards.

The formula, in liquid state, could be contained in a capsule no bigger than the normal pill.

Dropped into a glass of water, the capsule would dissolve in eight seconds.

It was colorless, odorless and tasteless.

Best of all, it was not a poison.

Any unfortunate deaths that might occur could never be traced to its use.

The actual results were obscure yet devastating.

No, not insanity, just change. The recipients remained, outwardly, as before and quite rational and exhibited no symptom that a psychiatrist could pin down.

For example, a well-known business magnate sold his business outright and joined a religious organization.

It is, perhaps, fortuitous, that this got several financially involved directors off the hook.

Adam Wenstone was chief director and absolute owner of a large business complex in the East.

His father had escaped the normal Inheritance Tax by passing the business on to his son at the age of seventy.

It was a sound business, and making a steady profit but there were those among the directors who thought it could do better. The number of opportunities which had cropped up and had somehow been missed!

So great had been the opportunities that two of the Directors had seen fit to take secret gambles of their own—with the firm’s money.

Good God, who could have foreseen that Maxtrose investments would go down the pan overnight leaving nothing?

If only a greater part of the business was left to the other directors. With time and a little ducking and weaving they might have kept the inevitable at bay for long enough to recoup the loss but not with Wenstone in control. He checked and re-checked regularly and took painstaking computer surveys.

Desperate, Argyle and Martin, the two directors, snatched at the only straw which had become available to them.

“Are you absolutely sure this bloody stuff will work?” Martin wiped his sweaty palms with a handkerchief.

“For the tenth time man, not absolutely sure. Nothing is absolutely sure, you must know that.”

“Suppose it fails?”

“It has succeeded on twelve occasions so I see no reason for it to fail now. On the other hand, since you keep pushing it, I have taken alternative measures.”

Martin dabbed at his palms again. “What other alternative—?” He stopped, his face pale. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Can you think of anything better? After all, we only have to resort to it if this formula fails.”

* * * *

Adam Wenstone was thirty-three, slim and fit. Outwardly gentle and easy-going; he had an astute mind and was interested in many things but riotous living was not one of them.

Yet he awoke on that particular morning with the smell and the distinct taste of liquor in his mouth.

He tried to open his eyes and they refused to open.

He was conscious again of the smells and tried to identify them. Horses, yes, no mistake about that; there was one near somewhere.

He came back to the liquor again. How? He was teetotal. Yet somehow in an odd way, his body felt as if it was used to it and liked it.

His senses returned to the smell, a disgusting mixture of horse, sweat and unwashed body.

It was his body and it stank.

His arm shifted but he hadn’t shifted it.

He thought: “God, I feel like hell this morning.”

They were his thoughts but he hadn’t thought them

He was suddenly very much afraid but he kept a grip on himself because it was clear that there was nothing he could do about it.

He was trapped somewhere and, at the moment there was nothing he could do to escape.

He tried to speak but could make no sound.

He tried to direct a thought message: “Can you hear me?” but there was no response.

His head itched. He could feel fingers scratch the itch and feel the fingers scratching but not by him.

He could feel every inch of his body, every twitch and breath but he had no control over it.

He thought: “That Mex is real fast, I’ll have trouble there.”

They were not his thoughts, they had not come from him, yet he understood what the thoughts implied. The dark skinned man from over the border had come in for a fight, a challenge.

Adam Wenstone was an intelligent man and already had an outline of his situation. Somehow—be it illusion or something else—he was occupying, and sharing, the body and mind of another man.

The other man was the host occupant while he, Adam, was the passenger.

The host was in absolute control. When he wanted to move, he moved

He, Adam, could feel and experience what was happening but that was all.

He knew every thought of the host knew everything the host knew but again, could do nothing about it.

On the other hand, the host had no idea that he had taken another intelligence on board, who was sharing his life with him.

The host opened his eyes and Adam saw that he was in a crude wooden shed. Two tethered horses shifted and stamped at the far end and he the host, was lying on a sort of crude shelf on the opposite side.

Adam knew, because his host knew, that this was Jake’s place.

The wide door swung open with a creaking sound and a man came in.

“I got you something to eat, bacon, beans and that. I’ll try and get you some coffee later when Mom’s place gets open.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“You always do, Limpy, but I’m worried about this Mex, he’s Godawful fast. Buxton is offering four to one against you.”

Adam, at the time, was only half listening. His host was fully awake and conscious and awake, his mind was open.

There was no need to see outside the shed, the whole picture was there, now part of Adam’s knowledge and memories.

Mentally Adam’s mind almost revolted. What was this, besides everything else—time travel?

This was a sleepy, one-horse town, settled in the curve of a wide rive yet close to the railroad.

It had a wide dirt street lined by wooden shacks with only a few rising to two stories.

Adam had seen a large number of such streets in Westerns but there the picture had stopped. The film could not convey the smell of horses, wood smoke and most certainly not the flies. Dear God, the flies! On some days they swirled so thickly they blurred the vision. They covered the face, explored the corners of the eyes and probed the mouth and nostrils.

It caused his host no great irritation, It was part of life, like the fleas, the lice and, at night, of course, the skeeters. One slapped a few and squashed them flat but, always, a fair number got through and sucked their fill of blood.

Adam realized suddenly that he was being biased. If this was, somehow, time travel, then the great cities of the world were very little different.

The majority of the inhabitants were also lousy. Most of the bedrooms were filled with cockroaches and excreted the sour and sickly smell of bed bugs. Many of the streets held open sewers and rats ran openly across the road.

Beyond this town, however, was the open country with the soft river smells, grasses, wild flowers and the scent of pine.

Adam’s host climbed to his feet and took a few uncertain steps. Limpy had broken his leg at the age of thirteen and had limped ever since. ‘Doc’ Munsen had fixed it as best he knew how but it was not one of his specialities. The broken bone had knit O.K. but somehow the leg had got shorter. Again the foot would not go flat to the ground properly.

Munsen, however, was still known as Doc because he had a half-breed woman who made concoctions out of herbs and suchlike. The stuff was very good for saddle sores, rope burns and things like that. Quite often—although his host had no knowledge of them—they stopped dangerous infections dead in their tracks.

His host ate then limped out into the street. Cotter, the local storeowner, had kindly taken his horse when he had been too drunk to find it, let alone mount the damn thing.

A short way up the street, a tall man in a striped apron shouted a greeting, and added: “Goin’ to take that Mex tonight Limpy.”

“I reckon.”

Adam was a little taken aback by his host’s answer. It implied a subtlety which he had not suspected in the man. It was not a boast yet suggested confidence. It was, on the face of it, a wholly neutral observation that could be taken either way.

Adam had thought, at first, that his host was little more than an oaf with a horse and a gun, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Limpy had principles. He believed that women and children should be protected at any cost. His given word was an oath he would never break and he was unshakably loyal to his friends.

Then, of course, there were horses. After a minute or so, Adam became convinced that this man knew more about horses than the greatest race trainers and breeders of his own age.

He not only knew about horses, he felt, loved and understood then. He was often employed to break one in. Sometimes he got thrown a few times but he always won through by love and persistence, never by violence.

“If Limpy breaks one in, it’s broke, you can take my word for it.”

Somehow all this failed to fit in with the portrait of a gunslinger but Adam could see the complete picture.

Limpy had not gone out looking for a fight. He carried six-guns from habit and necessity as most of them did but he had never fired them in anger.

Limpy had killed ten men and the first had been a traveling gambler with a green eyeshade and a greasy pack of marked cards

The gambler moved from township to township, staying only a night but cleaning up before moving on.

Limpy was only eighteen then and it was his first killing.

It was in the saloon and one of the painted girls from the house down the road was powdering her facer near the stable.

Perhaps she caught a reflection in her mirror or just saw something from the corner of her eyes but she said; “his bastard is switching cards!”

The gambler reacted, this was not the first time he had been caught out and had been forced to shoot his way out of a situation.

The set-up looked easy enough, not many in the saloon as yet. A group with their backs to him playing cards by themselves in the corner. Four elderly men at the bar and three girls, including the one near him, was al he had to contend with.

There was, of course, the fresh faced kid on the opposite side of the table. He’d already taken him for three dollars anyway.

The gambler swung back his jacket and reached for his guns. He’d kill the girl first, experience had taught him that killing a woman, no matter what she was, always caused diversion and delay.

The gambler had only just got his guns clear of their holsters when he got his.

Limpy, holding cards in his left hand, had been scratching his upper thigh when the gambler reached.

The single shot punched the gambler and his chair over backwards and tumbled them to the floor.

Limpy looked down at the dead man and tried not to be sick. There was a hole in the man’s chest, blood trickled from his open mouth and his eyes were still open. Somehow the eyeshade had come down his face and lay across his nose creating a grotesque effect.

Limpy felt no triumph, only a sort of gut-shock, he was shivering and shaking. It seemed to him that even his bad leg had begun to hurt a little.

“He was going to kill me,” said the girl. “I sort of sensed it inside me like.”

She turned to Limpy. “I owe you, boy, really owe you. You can come and see me any time, any time. Won’t cost you nothing.”

Again, Adam was amazed. His host might have been forgiven for a feeling of triumph, but he felt only regret. It was kill or be killed, himself and the girl but he didn’t like killing and never learned to like it.

Four weeks later a man burst into the saloon one Sunday evening but this was no gun duel, this was revenge.

“Where’s the murdering bastard what killed my brother?” He carried a heavy shotgun, pointed. “I’m looking for a guy what limps. You lot at the bar there, stand clear of him or you’ll get it too.”

Only one reaction was possible. Limpy dropped flat and fired from the floor.

The man with shotgun dropped it before he could pull the trigger. He staggered, his face registering mild surprise, then he coughed blood and fell sideways.

Number three was a youth from a nearby township who fancied himself as a gun slinger. With a little more practice he’d go bounty killing.

He provoked and provoked. “What’s the matter, you yeller livered bastard—draw!”

He made the mistake of reaching for his guns himself but was too slow to clear his holsters.

The memories and experiences of his host’s life were now completely Adams’, as if he had lived two lives. He was, however, still fumbling for an explanation. This life he was living now was real although he could take no active part in it. Was he telepathically or hypnotically attuned to the man?

If so, why the past? He could make no sense of it.

He had ceased to be afraid aside from a few vague apprehensions. He had almost convinced himself that he was the victim of some curious circumstance that would right itself in time. In all probability he was the victim of some accident which had mentally induced the whole business.

He was almost happy in it and grateful that he had acquired such a vast range of additional knowledge almost without effort.

He could survive in the wilderness out there, if forced, without weapons. He could make fire, strike out for a certain destination without a compass, and read terrain by a mere glance.

Each day he was learning more both about his host and the customs of the day. Tonight, for example, he would observe—

It was then, on that one word, that the implications hit him.

* * * *

On another level of existence, in another age, Martin was trying to stop himself reaching for the whisky bottle for the third time. The trouble with this was that it relied too much on speculation.

It was fine for Argyle to be cock-a-hoop and say it was bound to be a success. Right, it had worked with twelve cases but, like the wonder drugs that had appeared in the last decade, cures might be limited to the few.

Argyle came in as he was reaching for a drink, as usual bouncing with confidence.

“Got a lot of news for you, old son, managed to make some important contacts. First of all, I’ve managed to get details in respect of the stuff. In the first place, the recipient goes to bed and sleeps in an outwardly normal way. He oversleeps slightly in the morning but begins to symptoms as soon as he comes down.”

“What kind of symptoms?” Martin was filling his glass,

“Well, first he seems withdrawn, absent-mined, does not what is said to him. He shows no interest in his own but exhibits activity in other matters. This symptom lasts around four d. change is announced, or becomes apparent on the fifth day.”

“The fifth day.” Martin glanced at the office calendar. “That Day.”

“Eh—what?” Argyle looked blank.

“Oh don’t be so bloody obtuse man, our Carnival for the couples only. The old man started the tradition forty years ago, Wenstone just carried it on. They hold it every year.”

Argyle’s face brightened. “Of course, I had forgotten. The day the bonuses and merit awards are presented. Everyone arrives in fano there’s a grand party, a dance, all that sort of thing.”

He paused and grinned. “Fits in perfectly. I have no doubt the boss will use the occasion to announce his retirement.”

“I wish I felt as damn confident as you.” Martin drained his glass.

“Aren’t you listening to me, man? I was trying to tell you, he’s shown all the symptoms. Like the others, he’s ringing around all over the pi obviously making plans. He’s acting out of character and, for reasons unknown, he limps occasionally. Another thing, he keeps fingering the of his right ear and then inspecting his fingertips. I tell you, man, he’s his way out.”

“Where the hell are you getting all this information?”

“I’ve come to an arrangement with one of his household servants.”

“More money!”

“Well, of course, I’ve got to pay the bloody man, Martin, but, in the long run, it will get us out from under. We only need one hit and you know the opportunities which are passed up here.”

“You’ve still got this hit-man laid on?”

“Naturally, I’d be a fool if I didn’t prepare for every contingency however remote.”

Adam Wenstone had a sick feeling of horror inside him. Why had he not failed to see, realized sooner? He was not going to stand aside and watch a gun fight. He was going to be a participant, he and his host, were going to be the target when the shooting started. A man called Mex—reputedly

Godawful fast—going to make him his target.

His host was not happy either. He had a weary resignation concerning the future. If he came out of this alive, he was away. He’d join a wagon train to far away or just ride out— He’d go so far that no one had ever heard of Limpy and come in to challenge him with a gun. It was not from choice, he had been born here. His folks had died here when some sickness had swept the town some nine years ago.

Adam knew that his host meant it, once the man made a decision, he stuck to it although it hurt to leave his home.

Sundown, opposite the saloon, the setting sun throwing long black shadows across the road but giving advantage to neither man.

Adam admitted to himself that he was terrified. There was nothing he could do. He was like a fish in a bowl, swirling round and round in a desperate effort to escape and there was no escape. He accused himself also. He had been quite happy to lean back and observe before the implications hit him.

The bullets, if they came first and accurately, would hit their body, a body belonging to himself and his host.

There were no obvious spectators on the street, they were there but too experienced to show themselves. Men could miss, or agonizingly hit, let fly in a fury Then there was the death shot—Adam would call it a reflex. Old Ma Spinney had died like that years ago, a shot from a dying man as he fell.

The Mex, when he came to meet them, was tall and sallow ^te was a man who liked killing and took some pride in his appearance so that people would always recognize him and give him respect.

Adam never knew who shouted “Draw!” but he felt his host go for it with bewildering speed.

The Mex was faster.

Faster but less accurate.

It felt as if a red-hot poker had been slapped against Limpy’s head but his own guns had already jerked in his hands.

The Mex jerked as if he had been heavily punched.

He took three uncertain steps, then he crumpled into an untidy heap. There were two large holes, almost side by side, in the center of his chest.

* * * *

The conspirators had not taken the four-day wait easily. Martin needed constant resort to the bottle to keep his nerves under control.

Argyle, on the other hand, was outwardly more assured than ever. “I repeat, man, there is no mistaking the pointers, they fit in like the others all along the line.”

Martin nodded almost from habit. Why couldn’t he dismiss the uneasy feeling that Argyle was talking just to convince himself and that he, too, was harboring inner doubts.

He handed Martin a spare pair of binoculars. “Get a good view from up here on the balcony, see the parade as it crosses the sports fields reaches the main hall. Hello, there’s the boss’s car—ah, it looks as if he’s dumped that Pilgrim Father costume he usually wears. Good God! Look at that! Didn’t I say, didn’t I tell you!”

There was some confusion at the main gate also and the security man was becoming aggressive. “You can’t bring that in here.”

“Why not? I’ve an authority here signed by Mr. Wenstone himself.”

“Not for a damn great truck. What’s in it, anyway?”

“Well printed on the side is the word HORSES—you can read I assume?”

The security man went through his list and colored slightly. “I’m sorry, friend, I really am, but a horse—for the boss—good God!”

“So strange?”

“Hell, yes. If you handed Mr. Wenstone a horse, he’d look for a starter button. I’ve worked for him for years and my old man before me.”

“Perhaps he just wants to lead it.”

“Ah. You’re probably right, he might just manage that to head the parade to the conference area.”

“Yes, you’re probably right.”

Up on the balcony Argyle said: “There, there, I told you! Complete change, can you imagine the old Wenstone going through a charade like that? There’s even a bloody horse carrier thing there, but the Boss doesn’t know one end of a horse from the other.”

There was trouble in the horsebox, too. Bulmer the chief groom—mainly an executive position—was having personal troubles.

“What’s the trouble with that damn mare, Selby?”

“Jesse doesn’t like bands, sir, I did mention it at the time. We should have brought, Mabel, nothing troubles her.”

“Are you questioning my judgment, Selby? Who the hell do you think you are? If she won’t move, give her a touch of the whip to help her along.”

“Some trouble here?” A man walked up the ramp and into the transit.

“Get out of here, you.” Bulmer loved throwing his weight around and lost his temper easily.

“I’ve enough trouble on my hands without some idiot prancing in here dressed up as a stage cowboy You’d like me to call security, perhaps?””

The other nodded expressionlessly. “Yes—yes, I’d rather like that. I pay his wages.”

Bulmer opened his mouth to retort but no sound carne. He was not too insensitive to realize that this man had authority

Wenstone turned to Selby. “I gather from some of the conversation that the mare is nervous.”

“Yes, sir, Jesse doesn’t like bands, sir, the drums and that.”

“Poor old lady. Here, give her to me.”

He took the bridle and began to talk to her. They could not hear what he said and the soft words he used were beyond them anyway His hands stroked her head and neck, pulled gently at her ears. “Come on, girl, come on.”

They saw him lead the animal down the ramp and onto the ground.

They saw him put his foot into the stirrup and swing himself easily into the saddle.

Up on the balcony Argyle had a fixed leer of utter disbelief. “He can’t ride.” It no longer comforted him that Wenstone had changed.

Despite the change the man appeared, even at this distance, to have gained additional control.

Webster, a junior executive, joined them on the balcony He carried one of the new, digital binoculars. “What do you mean, the Boss can’t ride? I do a bit of riding myself and look at the way he sits the saddle. He’s good, let me tell you; been riding since a kid, no doubt.”

He leaned forward, pointing. “The Old West is one of my personal hobbies and that fancy dress of his is spot on, take it from me. The guns too are exactly placed for a quick draw. Obviously someone who knows his business has advised him on detail.”

Argyle said nothing he had a sick feeling inside that somehow the whole business had gone sour.

Martin, for his part, was near to tears and the bottle now failed to assure him.

Turning away from the parade below, he almost collided with yet another who had joined the group. “Get out of my damned way!”

“Sorry, I can’t do that. I want you and Mr. Argyle together. Mr. Wenstone wants you in his office in half an hour.”

Wenstone had not bothered to change back to civilian clothes but sat on the edge of his desk, smiling inwardly with relief. God that had been close. He raised his hand, fingered his ear then studied his fingers briefly. No, he was not bleeding but he kept feeling he might be. That blasted dago had taken off the top of his ear and burned a short furrow in his scalp as well. It was an experience he had somehow brought back which was more vivid than memory.

Someone pressed the announcer plate on the outside of the door, and Wenstone said: “Come in.”

Martin came first, red faced and looking close to tears. Argyle, also deflated but with a shaky smile of defiance. “I don’t know what this is all about,” he said. “This man here/’ he jerked his head at the third member of the party who entered behind them, “maybe, as he says, he’s a police official but—”

“Save it.” Wenstone cut him short. “We knew all about it from the beginning. Obviously we do not advertise the fact but all our financial computers are fitted with micro-surveillance units as well as our main offices. If necessary we can trace a single ancient coin round the world. We were well aware, therefore, of your incursion into high finance with our money which, needless to say, was never confirmed. Similarly we know of the odd million you paid to a professional assassin to dispose of me in case your first trick went wrong.”

Wenstone withdrew one of his six-guns from its holster, inspected it and replaced it. “I would like to have disposed of you both cleanly, in fair fight with one of these but unfortunately present law does not permit it. However, I have not brought here to gloat but to tell you, before you do ‘life’ exactly what your formula mystery drug did.”

He paused and smiled at the third member of the party. “Oh, do sit down First Class Officer Bradley—liquor—coffee—tea—? Just press the button in the arm of your chair. However to return to the drug which, since analysis, is known as Genetic Stimulant. In short the drug awakens a racial memory so vividly that the recipient seems to revert back many generations to some outstanding event in his past. Very often it is not a good incident, perhaps a mass execution, the wholesale slaughter of the innocent and like incidents. I cannot report on all but I have the outlines of two and these two, being honorable men felt that they must redeem themselves in this life for the evils they had committed in the past. Therefore it was concluded, incorrectly, that everyone given the drug would change their life-style completely.”

Wenstone paused and smiled faintly. “I was lucky, my grandfather, many times removed, was a gunman named Limpy. Not from choice, it was forced upon him and, anyway, he got out from under long before his life was over.”

He paused and looked long and hard at the two accused men in turn.

“I’m well aware, needless to say, that you paid a top flight hit-man over a million of the firm’s money to have me removed should the drug fail. But for this there might have been mitigating circumstances; I might have spoken on your behalf. Unwittingly you did me a favor, you, gave another life, other knowledge and other senses which I had never known about before.”

He shook his head, sighed and looked at Bradley, the police officer.

“Can you get rid of these two?”

“Yes, sir, I’ve a couple of men waiting in the corridor, outside.”

When they had gone, Wenstone said: “Have any trouble with the hit-man?”

“Oh, no, sir. We picked him up in the Long Corridor where he intended to wait for you.”

“Oh, yes, that reminds me.…” Wenstone crossed his office to his secretary’s desk in the corner. “The photos from our surveillance cameras.” He handed the other a large envelope.

“Thank you, Mr. Wenstone—er—excuse me asking sir, but have you had an accident recently?”

“No—why?”

“You were walking with a distinct limp, sir.”

Wenstone said easily: “Oh, my foot went to sleep when I was leaning on the desk.”

Inwardly he cursed himself. He really must force himself to place his foot flat on the floor in a normal way.

He said: “Please tell me more about this hit-man.”

“Well he offered no resistance, sir. With seven guns pointed at him, he had little choice. Needless to say, he was in fancy dress like everyone else. The odd part being he was dressed as a cowboy, just like you, although his was a darker costume than yours. He had some nasty weapons dotted around inside it, too.”

“Tell me, was he tall, thin and kind of sneery?”

“Yes, sir, now that you come to mention it, he was. Do you think you might have met him at some time, sir?”

“Not really, just a mental picture in my mind.”

“He was not a Nordic type, sir, more dark skinned if you understand me but by God, he was thorough. A large part of that fancy dress costume was not fancy. The six-guns in the holster were real and fully loaded.”

“Well, it is strange that.” Wenstone drew his own guns and spun them deftly round his index fingers. “So are mine.”

THE WISHING STONE, by Philip E High

A drunk gave it to me in Vallas’s place on Twenty-fifth Street. When I say drunk, he was not too drunk to know what he was doing—he knew that all right. He was getting rid of an object that was becoming too hot for him to handle. An object that might have handed him the Earth but he was too nervous to use.

“Well, to be absolutely honest, it’s a kind of magic, I call it a wishing stone.”

He held it out for my inspection and I saw that it was a perfectly round sphere the size of a snooker ball. It fitted comfortably into my palm, which I placed around it.

It looked like any other round stone save that it was a funny color. An undecided color, actually. First glance said bright green and the next, a kind of pale shimmering blue. One was never quite certain quite what color it was.

“And it does magic?”

He nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes, you can take my own word on that.”

“What kind of magic?”

“I thought I explained that, it’s a Wishing Stone. You wish for something and you get it.”

“Oh come on! It can’t be that easy.”

“Easier, old chum, but it’s only fair to tell you the dangers. You wish for a small fortune in bank notes, any currency, and it will appear. Then you start asking yourself those very awkward questions. Suppose this money comes from a robbery and the numbers are known? Suppose the whole damn lot is counterfeit? The idea of swaggering into the bank you mentally blow out of the water before you’ve started on your journey.”

He paused and waved his finger at me, warningly. “Mind you, old son, when you start trying things out for yourself, you have to be specific. It’s no good saying you want a pint of beer, it will just splash on the floor in front of you. You have to state that you want a glass of—or a bottle of—. You do understand me?”

“Oh, yes, fully.” Needless to say, I didn’t believe a single word he said but it was an interesting con and I wanted to see how it would work out. On the other hand, the alleged stone was interesting in appearance and could join my other collection of curios—a hobby of mine.

I said pointedly: “How much?”

He appeared taken aback. “Well, I hadn’t actually thought about selling—but, of course, given away, you would have considered it worthless and would never have taken it. Tell you what, I’m no con man, you’re obviously a man of means, so a compromise, eh? The big bottle of Vodka, on the shelf, just left of the barman’s head there.”

I must confess I was surprised, this was no obvious con trick. I am a financial advisor to a major industry; I could have bought the whole damn bar if necessary.

I bought him the drink and he placed the stone in my hand. “Good luck, friend,” he said.

I smiled at him, feeling I had got the best out of the deal. “Tell me, please, if you can remember it, what was your last wish before deciding to give this stone up?”

“Oh, no problem there, sir, none at all. I wished I could find the sucker stupid enough to take the damn thing off my hands.”

It was at that moment that the door to the bar burst open and there was a virtual invasion of people. They were twined with colored ribbons, they carried balloons, they wore silly cardboard hats and they blew on idiotic tin trumpets. Obviously they were an overspill from a nearby party but they flooded the place and, in the crowd, I lost him.

He left me with the odd feeling that I had been cheated but I failed to see how. The cost of the bottle meant nothing to me and I had an interesting curio for my collection. There is no need to stress that I believed not a single word of this alleged magic. I must confess, however, that the stone was unique. It was not cold to the touch and it was not exactly warm, somehow it retained a curious neutrality between the two.

I will be honest; although dismissing these magic stories as rubbish, I fully intended to put them to the test. Maybe an old witch doctor, or whoever had made the damn thing, had pressed some hypnotic thoughts into it before letting it go. It was a theory which might account for my drunken friend’s belief in its powers.

I did see his moral argument; suddenly acquired wealth, it had to come from somewhere even if was from a madman’s imagination.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later my chauffer was driving me home and my thoughts turned to some sort of test. Something simple, wholly personal but which did not impinge on other people. Hang on, you’re thinking as if there really was some truth in this rubbish.

Something simple, how about that thought which came to you earlier. You wondered where the damn thing came from, you ask the question and wish for an answer.

It had to be in private, I called my manservant, Palmer, and told him I was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Then I settled down in my favorite chair and made my wish.

It might have been imagination but it seemed to me that the stone moved slightly in my hand. For a few seconds I was disoriented and then became conscious of a beating noise, close and around. Some of the beating was very heavy, almost thunderous, others faint and almost shrill.

I had the impression I was in a huge cavern, lit by a shimmering, green light. Somewhere there were people dancing. I could not see them but their distorted black shadows rose and fell on the cavern walls. Then, abruptly, the drumming and the dancing stopped and a heavy silence fell on everything, even the green light that became thick and murky.

There was a flash and a small sphere of dull green light appeared, in the center of which was the stone. Neither the flash or the sphere were spectacular but what came with them, was a rush of warm heated air which by itself would have been revolting. It stank. It stank of corruption and decay, of something festering and held close to the face.

Worse than this, however, but beyond description, was the feeling of absolute malevolence that made one want to run in terror.

Then, suddenly, I was back in my own room, sitting in my favorite chair. I cannot deny for one minute that I was frightened, terrified even.

I had to fight down something close to sheer panic by logic and rational thinking alone. My earlier assumptions had been right, of course, some old witch doctor or ancient adept had hypno-impressed the stone.

It was a wholly reasonable and logical explanation save, at the time, it failed to convince me. I was still terrified and the smell of decay seemed to cling to me and my very clothing.

I wanted to call up my private plane and get the pilot to fly far out over the ocean. There, from a great height, I would drop this diabolical ball into the deepest part of the ocean.

It was a logical save that I knew I couldn’t do it. In some odd and inexplicable way, I was bound to the bloody thing. The only way I could ever rid myself of it was on its own terms. I had to wish it away. I began to understand now why the drunk had called me a sucker.

It was not easy giving away or even trying to sell a round stone. Most people, lest caught off guard and in the right mood, as I had been, would steer well clear of the offer.

I was slowly regaining my nerve and logic was taking over from past terror. My first assumption had been correct, the experience had been impressed by some old witch doctor into the stone. Those people were still capable of arousing the primitive parts of the mind.

Within an hour I had almost fully convinced myself that the experience had been wholly subjective.

I called Palmer for a drink and, as usual, he was very quick. He poured my favorite concoction right beside me on the small vine tables. As he did so, he sniffed. “My God, Mr. Ventris, has something gone wrong with the air conditioning?”

His words made me go cold inside but I kept a grip on myself.

“No, not as far as I know, Palmer.”

“Sir, the smell! I have a very sensitive nose and I am not mistaken. It’s a veritable reek, sir.”

“Then, perhaps, it’s lucky that I have a slight head cold, Palmer.”

“I would agree there in full, sir. I will get on to the suppliers right away.”

When he had gone, it took a long time for my stomach to stop shivering and to warm up. I had imagined the whole experience to be subjective but this, clearly, was not the case.

In no way could anyone explain how Palmer could register my subjective experience.

Once again, I thought of dropping the damn thing into the depths of the ocean and knew, yet again, that I was hooked. I had to wish it away onto another unfortunate before I could rid myself of it. Worse, deep down, I was half fascinated by its possibilities—where would it lead?

There was another unpleasant factor also which I found out in the first few days—it would not let one alone. It prodded and pulled at the mind continually and demanded to be used.

There was no question of shutting it away some dark place and forgetting it.

I found myself beginning to search desperately for something to wish. It was not easy, a horrible experience like that last one must be avoided at all costs. Even apparently simple and innocuous wishes often adversely affected other people.

It was by pure chance that two news items almost handed me something on a platter. One of my business friends had been badly injured in an air crash. A second, while waiting for his car outside his club, had been mugged and badly beaten up.

The answer seemed obvious and safe. I wished to be protected.

I had thought about it for some hours and had gone into the idea thoroughly. I had remembered to be specific and I think I covered everything. I asked for protection against any conceivable type of accident, man-made or natural, murderers and maniacs, miscarriages of justice and the like. The most important of all to me, which I stressed, was protection against psychic attack.

I did not think I was making myself immune. I fully realized, in purely basic terms, I was the fumbling amateur competing against the professional but, at least, I was able to sleep more soundly.

The repercussions came five days later in the form of a uniformed detective and a constable.

“Mr. Ventris—Mr. Adrian Ventris?”

“Yes, yes—what can I do for you?”

They introduced themselves, then: “You have a thief-proof electronic fence surrounding your estate, sir?”

“Yes, yes, but the voltage is not lethal, deterrent only.”

“Yes, sir, that we already know. These men, however, had broken the circuit and had already cut through part of the steel barrier beyond. These were dangerous and ruthless men, sir, and both were heavily armed. It is unlikely, therefore, that any rival villains would have risked trying to take over.”

“What are you trying to tell me?” Inwardly I had already half guessed and dreaded what followed.

“Perhaps it would be better if you came and saw for yourself, sir.”

* * * *

The two men lay sprawled under an oak tree, about two metres from the breech in the fence.

For reasons unknown their faces were unmarked but their distorted expressions were frightening enough.

As for their bodies— Dear God! They looked as if they had been run over several times by a heavy tractor or, perhaps dropped from a great height beyond the atmosphere.

Hands and arms protruding from their sleeves retained shape only, no bone structure was left, only a red jelly.

I admit, I fought down a desire to vomit, not from the bodies alone but because of my own sense of guilt.

This, in a way, was my responsibility. Be specific, the man had said and I had failed the warning miserably. I had merely asked for protection, never realizing that others might be killed horribly to provide it.

Inwardly I almost flew into a panic. I wish no more killing in my protection.

Almost it was a prayer and I hoped to God it worked.

* * * *

I estimate that it was at least four hours later before I could sit and think rationally. I am not a religious person bat I literally prayed that the ‘no kill’ wish worked.

I found out next day and it brought me little consolation. Quite by accident I had struck up a friendship with a local cop. We discovered we shared an interest in foreign stamps and, for reasons unknown, strong bonds build up between philatelists.

As it happened, he caught me waiting outside the complex while my chauffeur was making desperate efforts to get the Mercedes across a line of traffic to pick me up.

“Good day, Mr. Ventris, glad I’ve seen you, you had a narrow escape only a few hours ago. I was too far away to help at the time, but I saw it all.”

I had gone a little cold inside and, candidly, I didn’t want to hear the rest. I knew, by his tone of voice, that whatever he told me was going to be unpleasant.

“Yes, Mr. Ventris, I saw the whole thing in detail. Later, one of our street cameras got the lot. Ira Mintz had you in his sights and if Mintz got to work on you he would have taken everything you possessed and you would never have known until you tripped. Only then would you discover that he had taken everything including your shoelaces, if you know what I mean, sir. Mintz is one of the best dips—pickpockets—on this continent. It is said that he once won thirty grand on his skill alone. Someone bet him that he couldn’t take the bras off three women without them knowing within an hour and he won. Thirty minutes, he took, so they say.”

The policeman paused and shook his head. “Won’t do that no more. As he got near you, something happened, I don’t know what. Some medical experts, back at base, think it was some kind of fit but I have never seen anything like it. My wife’s cousin is an epileptic, sir, and I’ve seen a few attacks, but nothing like this. He’ll never walk again—”

After that it took me at least four hours to think rationally.

A greater part of my thinking was self-examination, past and present. I was shocked when I forced myself to face facts. The damn thing was taking over my life and, by slow degrees, enslaving me. I was missing several of my favorite musical recitals, visits to the club, things like that. Yes, golf, also, to miss a weekend round before all this had once been unthinkable.

Again there was the dog; we were missing many of our usual walks. I knew that exercise with Palmer or one of the other servants was not quite the same thing to him.

I loved the dog, his loyalty and blind devotion—it was not being fair to him. Yet lately, I must confess, he added to my fears. All too often, lately, he would lift his head and stare at something beyond me. Then he’d growl, low and threateningly, deep in his throat.

I knew what he was growling at, something I was beginning to sense, all too frequently. I can only describe it as a dark and threatening shadow but daily it seemed to draw closer.

I thanked God my wife was away, taking care of a sick sister on another continent. I didn’t want her involved in this.

Here, too, I had to be honest with myself, this was not noble or protective. I had been married to Moira for fifteen years but, somewhere along the line, love had died, flaked away into nothing. Those endearing differences of speech and gesture have degenerated to irritating mannerisms. My wife is still a beautiful woman but her beauty does not touch me.

I wish her no harm, I do not dislike her and we lead our separate lives. To have her here, mixed up in all this business would make things many times worse. Together, she gets on my damn nerves, constantly.

Even as I sat, forcing myself to face facts, the pressure never stopped.

Make a wish.

Wish for something.

I found it difficult to keep a grip on myself. Mentally, I wanted to shout back, “Leave me alone! Get off my back, blast you!”

I admit I gave way. Something harmless, innocuous, something which would exert no pressure on anyone.

How is my sick sister-in-law, Geraldine, doing?

As is often the case, I was suddenly there, as if mentally transported, seeing it all.

And Geraldine was doing fine.

Geraldine was practising high dives in her home’s private swimming pool.

Where the hell was her loving sister. Moira? “Geraldine is not really well enough to talk but she sends her love.”

Needless to say I fell into the trap. I wished I knew what my wife was doing.

I sat in my favorite chair for a long time just staring at nothing but I must admit that I was inwardly grateful that I no longer loved her. Had I done so, the consequences would have been tragic, even so—.

Moira was kicking a lot of high spots, miles away, at a coastal resort with a boyfriend.

The cow! The two-faced bitch! All those messages on her sister’s health every evening.

I had not been hurt emotionally. I acknowledge that, but, hell, my pride had. I was being made to look an idiot. No doubt those who knew were secretly laughing. A top exec’ being taken down by his wife, not so damn smart, is he?

The worst aspect of the whole business, however, was the boyfriend himself.

It was Preston Goff, one of our junior executives. I had never liked the man, loud, pushy and overbearing. A man who was forced to address you as ‘sir’ but made it sound contemptuous.

When he smiled, it could be heard—the thick lips over big uneven teeth.

Goff could not help his physical characteristics, of course, but they were something that added to my anger.

Also I knew, damn well, who was paying for these jaunts to the coast—I was. Moira was funding their adultery through the credit card I had given her.

I sat for a long time fuming, planning revenge and public exposures.

I would stop the credit card, leave her virtually penniless in a top-flight hotel.

Gradually, very gradually, I calmed down. Face it, I was a hypocrite if I told myself that all this was about Moira. I felt no pangs of loss whatever; my real resentment was against Goff. I knew, already, he would be boasting, dropping dark hints that he was bedding a top executive’s wife.

Suddenly I was icy cold and a picture began to form in my mind. At the moment I had almost forgotten about the wishing stone. This was sharp and immediate, I had to cover my back. Therefore no showdowns, no public exposures for Goff or Moira. Such tactics, although inwardly rewarding, were also a public admission of failure. They would only tell the world that this loud mouthed lout had been having my wife behind my back—not good for my position or my business reputation at all.

It took me five whole days of planning and re-planning before I had an answer. It was not a pleasant answer and, yes, it included the evil already looming over me.

I had cursed the whole damn situation at first, seeing it as another cruel trick of fate in the midst of my troubles. After a day or so, however, I came to regard it as something of a blessing. My natural anger had stiffened my determination. Possibly I was sticking my damn neck out but I was suddenly determined to fight this damn thing, if possible, on its own terms.

I am an executive in a position of power, so I took care and I planned everything.

It wanted wishes so it got wishes but perhaps not the sort it liked.

I wish to know.

I wish this point explained—.

It resented it, its anger licked at me like a remote flame but I was learning and the fundamental truth was that it, too, was bound by rules.

One, having answered a wish, it could not reverse or alter it.

Two; it could not go against the natural laws of this world. For example, it could grant me protection but only for my natural lifespan. Immortality, therefore, was out.

I grabbed at this one, I would begin my defiance with its own power. Immortality might be out but within one’s normal lifetime, that was another thing.

By the time I had finished, I was immune to everything. I could not be shot, poisoned or stabbed. I was immune to all disease, injected or otherwise. I could have survived a road crash or stepped, unharmed from the wreckage of a plane.

I rounded the whole lot off with what, I felt, were two body blows.

I wish that you cannot harm me

I wish that you cannot harm me, even if wished to do so when in the possession of another.

This I felt was the decisive wish, and it knew. I sensed the searing flames of resentment, but I was not clear of it yet. I had learned from the first that escape was not a wish that would be granted.

The only escape was to pass it on to another in the same way as I had been landed with it.

I had a plan, I could only pray that it would work. I called my mother in Ellsworth—this is an elite kind of resort for the elderly perched right on the coast. Elderly ladies meet there and exchange gossip. Among these gatherings was another lady— Groff’s mother.

I talked to my mother for a long time. She was an ex-actress of some note, so she would be word and part perfect.

When Mrs. Goff was in the gathering, my mother would ease her way into the conversation, dropping a sentence here and there.

She would say, “This last curio of my son’s, it really is a dreadful thing, only a stone but quite repulsive. I really can’t understand why he won’t get rid of it. He thinks no one will take it as a gift, particularly so, as he thinks it quite worthless.”

“And is it worthless, Mrs. Ventris?”

“Well, from private enquiries I have made, no. It might be worth a considerable amount of money to the right people.”

* * * *

The bait was on the hook; I knew it was only a question of time.

I had to wait five days and then he caught me in the executives’ common room.

“Excuse me, sir, may I have a word, please.” He was unnaturally polite oat clearly quite sure of himself. He had taken this high-ranking bastard’s wife. He was now about to milk him of a valuable curio.

“Heard you didn’t care for it much, sir, also that it is worthless. I’m a bit of collector myself and I wondered if—”

I invited him home. I hesitated, I humm’d and haa’d. “It is absolutely worthless, you know.”

I did tell him all about it but I could see he did not believe me. Finally he paid me fifty for it. “Must give you something for it, sir, only fair.”

He went away gleefully, thinking of rich profits and, yes, once more taking a top executive for a mug. He had had his wife and now he had taken him for a curio of considerable value.

No, before you ask my conscience is not clear.

It will probably play hell with me in the coming years.

On the other hand, I have rid myself of an evil entity into the hands of a man who richly deserves it.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR, by Gordon Landsborough

The publisher came in, his form bulking against the rare sunlight angling down through the open doorway. He was smiling, affable, in his usual good humor.

“Well…mornin’!” He put an inflexion in his voice, so that the last word rose half an octave, giving the intended effect of surprise and delight. Surprise at what? thought Butty, his head sore, his nose streaming with cold. Because the sun was shining? Because he’d made it from Hampstead before ten this morning? Delighted? To see them? Them? Butty said an obscene thing inside this head that only wanted to lie down.

Some people streamed past the doorway carrying lollypops. Wind-cheatered and jeaned, the uniform of protest. The daily picket. Laughing young voices submerged in sound as a diesel bus coughed through its gears. Butty thought, “A bloody editorial office that steps right off a High Street pavement.” Then he turned his full hatred on the publisher knowing what was coming.

“And what has my hi-fi, sci-fi editor got to tell me this morning—eh, Butteridge?” Jolly. Just short of being hearty.

Butty said, “We’ve got the usual load of crap.” He looked across at Dickie Armstrong, bright young face alert, watching the same old morning game and interested to know how far he, Butty, would go in showing the publisher he was a crude, tasteless, insensitive creature. Further than usual, with this blasted cold in his head.

“Crap?”

“I’ve dipped into them. Only one that’s good.” The publisher waiting to damn his opinion of good. Butty brooded out through the doorway into the High Street. Let him wait. The High Street. Marks & Sparks protected by St. Michael. Sainsburys protecting their good name. Burton’s next to Woolworth’s next to Tescos next to Barclays next to British Home Stores next to.… Like every other High Street in the land, except that this had problems and the lollypop youngsters were going to sort then out. Or were they against all that money?

“The good one?” The publisher, prompting, smile pleasant, waiting to annihilate him. Enormous fat wedding ring. Enormous fat, expensive fountain pen. Massive cigarette lighter. Why should a little man want to be big? Butty, trying to find a dry place in a sodden handkerchief.

“It’s about a long-chain molecule,” Butty began, deliberately obscure, inviting death. The publisher’s round face brightened. This would be an easy one. “Imagine a benzidrene molecule and you hammer it pretty flat and tack on some hydroxyl groupings at odd corners.…”

Young Armstrong settled back, listening with satisfaction to the cultural warfare. He didn’t know what his editor was talking about, and he was pretty sure Butty was making things up as he went on. His own inventive mind raced parallel with the words Butty was saying, pictures flung into it as they always were when people played with ideas.

“Okay,” said the publisher, unruffled good humor demonstrated by an indulgent smile. “I’m dead ignorant. You’ve got your long-chain thingumny but I want to know what this story is about. You say it’s good. Is it good enough for our list?”

Butty knew the answer but insisted that the publisher made it for him. “It could come under the term: hallucinatory drug. Administered, nobody wants for anything because nobody wants anything. It just brings peace.”

“Peace?” The publisher allowed a frown to mar his sun-tanned forehead. “No fighting? That doesn’t sound much good.”

“Not a ray gun in the whole story.” Butty lifted the manuscript. It wasn’t very bulky, and it was so neat, the tidiness of a thoughtful mind. “Under the drug people find pleasure in living.” Oh, how difficult it was to explain in simple terms to this sleek and prosperous man the pleasure of mind exploration. “The MS merely tells of a disentangling of minds that have had a few thousand years to snarl them up.” And what shocks and surprises the author had given, disentangling. Inevitable, thought Butty, those conclusions, though women would fight like hell against them.

The publisher said, “Oh, dear,” then paused to allow another lumbering bus and then a fourteen-wheeled truck to thunder by outside. “You know I have the greatest admiration for your hi-fi sci-fi—” Butty hated him for this old joke. High fidelity SF, indeed! “—but a poor publisher must think of sales. I mean, who wants to read about people’s minds?” He was honestly perplexed. “Action, that’s what people want.”

Young Armstrong obliged on cue. Butty looked at him suspiciously. Here was a chap with a tumbling, racing, fertile imagination, an intelligent human being, and yet he could be enthusiastic about the publisher’s needs. Butty was quite sure Armstrong wasn’t toadying up to the boss, quite sure there was no thought in that innocent young mind of sabotaging his superior’s editorship. He actually liked bug-eyed monsters. Butty shook his head, he couldn’t reconcile intelligence with that.

“There’s one good ’un came this morning.” Dickie flipped back some pages of the MS and found a place. He began to read: “‘Chet stood there, eyes cold glints of steel behind his visor. The savage, sub-moronic Castro came on, murder in those flaming amber eyes. Chet, clean and wholesome beside that vileness, allowed his eyes to flicker for a moment to the helpless Astra. So lovely. Naked save for the tiny kilt that barely covered those wonderful, sweeping thighs—’”

The publisher said, “That’s great!” Exulting. “That’s your cover pic for you, smart boy!” Something crashed outside and there was a shout distantly heard above the traffic’s rumble. “Go on. What happened?”

Butty rose and drooped towards the sunlight, blue with exhaust fumes. Butty said, as if reading: “Chet ground his teeth, then swung back his hating eyes on Castro. ‘You’ve come far enough, Castro.’ he said into his Inter-Galactic Mark 1 All Communities Interpreter. ‘One more step and by God I’ll drill you.’

“Castro makes one more step. He could hardly help it,” Butty said bitterly “Poor sod, he probably has eight legs and what’s one little step among eight legs? So our clean-cut American youth goes for his laser gun and turns old Castro into a pool of jelly. Hurrah for progress! If it’s different kill it.”

Dickie was indignant. “It doesn’t go like that at all.”

Butty: “But he goes for his laser gun?”

“Well, yes.”

The publisher said kindly, “That sounds much more like the stuff we need for our readers. Not thinking stuff.”

Someone came in at the doorway.

“That’s why I handed it over to Dickie,” said Butty. “I knew you’d like it. Crap.”

The fellow in the doorway was…queer. Vague age, vague man. Old Macintosh buttoned up to his neck. Worn shoes, very dirty sagging trousers that had probably been slept in many times, no hat and a fuzz of an immature beard.

The chap didn’t seem all there. Looked around as if disappointed.

“Books?” he said.

The publisher’s genial smile wiped off. No money in this bum. Don’t waste time. His verbal laser reached out and scalded. “We publish books, we don’t sell to the public. That’s next door.” Harmless sentences, taken by themselves, but somehow offensive, insulting coming from the mouth of the publisher.

The fellow seemed unable to take it all in immediately. He hovered. The publisher’s eyes became frosty hard. “On your way. Beat it.” He turned, not bothering if the fellow was within earshot. “Tramps—make the place look untidy.”

Butty hated him because tramps are human and more wanting humanity than most other people. He thought, “Why don’t I get the treatment?” Then bleakly changed it to, “When will I get the same treatment?” He knew when.

When the publisher grew tired of him. Why wasn’t he tired of him now?

Because of two things. One was that he was cheap labor, efficient at turning bad crap into not quite so bad crap. The other was, he was public school and university. Oh, sure, not Eton, Harrow or Winchester. Lancing. Not Oxford or Cambridge. Redbrick—Southampton. And the publisher wasn’t either, and it kept him in good humor to think that he could employ at mean rates a man of education; every time he humbled Butty by overriding him it filled him with a sense of superiority and put him in good humor.

A whipping boy There to do the humble work, there to be shown mercilessly every day that his boss was superior and all that taxpayers’ money invested in him was just down the educational drain. “If only I had spine,” he thought tiredly but he hated trying to find jobs and here he could sit in a corner and read.

The queer fellow turned and went out, quickly, looking back as if expecting a blow to follow. Funny small eyes surprised in a vague way, bewildered.

Geniality returned. Even a slight triumph at disposing of a fellow creature. “Sounds on the right lines, that story,” said the publisher. “It’s got the right cover material, and covers sell.” Which reminded him. “Butteridge. Make sure if you use it you have an all-action cover. Show the laser gun blasting. Show the what-d’you-call-it hit and in pain. And the girl.”

Butteridge glowered over his glasses.

“Her milk rounds. The last cover didn’t show ’em up to advantage. A bit on the spare side. Make ’em big, stand out.”

“Too big, they’re conical.” Butty truculent, cold getting worse. Wish he could go home. Wish he’d drop dead. The publisher.

“You don’t know readers.” Just for once impatient. The publisher explaining. “They’ve got to attract attention on the bookstall, our sci-fi. So they’ve got to be big, stand out. See? Simple, isn’t it?”

“But they’ve got to be decent,” said Butty, and young Dickie almost gasped, for the editor was mimicking the boss. “Musn’t show their nipples, eh? Got to sling ’em in a bra—brass roundels with no visible means of support.”

“Gold.” The publisher was serious, upgrading then. But he frowned. He didn’t like sex made fun of. He was a family man, and sex was for books he published but wasn’t really real and didn’t harm anyone but it wasn’t a Fit Subject for Humor. Butty could have taken the mickey to the last syllable.

The door darkening again. Old Dalrymple dragging in his catarrh. That was sixty seconds exactly before it began. Saying, “I saw him come out. That chap.” Dalrymple who bought odd lots of books at knockdown prices from the publisher, to sell in his book-shambles next door. But the publisher didn’t mind—ready cash and he didn’t have to declare it.

The publisher, able to be kind to Lancing and Soton. “I don’t say I don’t admire you for being an intellectual, Butteridge. God knows life’s in need of an uplift. But.…” A gesture. The shoulders hunching helplessly. The brown eyes saddened. Two hands untouched by toil turned appealingly. “Someone’s got to be commercial. Someone’s got to know what the market really wants. If we had to publish what appeals to you, we’d all be in Carey Street, now wouldn’t we?” He made it sound jocular, but that was part of the game. He was wounding Butty, delicately touching him up with barbed words.

Dalrymple was teetering in the doorway, no one taking any notice of him. Only thirty seconds to go. “What was he wanting? In my place every day. Never buys. And trouble.…”

The catarrh was thick. The Liverpool sound. Butty was thinking, “Yes, you bastard, but you’d drive from Carey Street in your Jag. You’re the kind to come out on top.” But not him, Butty. Not the commercial touch, he supposed. Couldn’t bargain. Just wanted to be left alone to live with the thoughts of other men. To read. But not this crap.

Young Dickie’s desk was nearer the door. Three desks only in this room, once a budgerigar shop. His, Dickie’s and the boss’s, rarely used. Next door another shop constructed into an office where the sales manager, crease-waist-coated, chain smoking, and two typists lived.

Dalrymple fixed on Dickie. Dalrymple was mad fit to bust a gasket. “Every day, I tell you. There he is, head stuck in a book. Never buys. And always something happens when he’s in my shop.”

“Something?” Dickie’s bright, intelligent face prompting. Everything in life was superbly interesting to Dickie Armstrong.

“He’s a walking jinx. One day a bookcase collapsed. Another day a shelf fell down.”

Ten seconds.

Butty was looking yearningly into the patch of sunshine wanting them all to shove off, wanting five-thirty so that he could take his head and running nose home. Looked across at Dunn & Co next door to Pricerite, then above the High Street shops to the tall chimneys of the industrial estate beyond. Smokeless zone. No smoke. A bit of steam from one of the chimneys. Steam? He supposed steam was all right in a smokeless zone. The wind whipping it downwards in eddies. Lasting a long time for steam. Picketing didn’t seem to stop industrial activities. WAR CRIMINALS. BAN GERM WARFARE. Funny, his tired mind said, you can see banners go on picket every day and the ads on commercial telly, you never remember what they’re proclaiming. It wasn’t germ warfare. That was down in Dorset.

“He just comes in and books fall off top shelves and lay old ladies out. Right now a whole table collapsed. He wasn’t within yards of it.” Dalrymple scrubbed his gray stubble with a coarse fingernail. “But it’s him, he’s the cause. Some people are like that. Wherever they go they bring disaster around them.”

Three seconds. He shot off, in case someone was helping himself to his precious, secondhand books. His voice floated back: “Don’t have him near you.”

The publisher smiled indulgently, he knew how to handle bums. And then there were no seconds left; and it was happening and they were all on their feet and minds were racing with shock and emotions close to fear and Butty for the moment forgot his throat and head, Dickie forgot he wanted to go to the toilet, and the publisher thought, “It’s a smash and grab,” and slammed the office safe door shut.

What happened outside was reconstructed from the evidence of many, many people, curiously including Dickie Armstrong, who bolted out into the street immediately things began. No one person was able to give the whole complete story. But when the police car arrived—which it did within a minute or so of the occurrence; it was cruising the length of the High Street—the hysteria was at its height and they had to use extreme patience to cut through the gabble.

As they reconstructed it, this was what happened. A bus came along the High Street. Nothing remarkable in that. Buses came like bananas along that High Street, in bunches. Dickie told the cops he was sure it was a 99A; he’d seen it for a glimpse. Which puzzled the cops, because a 99A did not run along that route.

Butty and the publisher watched from the doorway. Then the publisher went running towards the group, and he seemed excited and that wasn’t usual. But Butty didn’t move. Behind his glasses his eyes took in the picture. All traffic at a standstill in the High Street. One car mounted on the pavement, bonnet thrust through the window of Jolly’s Sandwich Bar—‘Take Away Or Consume On Premises’. People lying on the ground in a state of shock. Like a battlefield. Some people running around in hysterics, but most just standing, looking dazed, or walking irresolutely, as if in some trance-like state. And that group now surrounding the police car, all talking, arguing among themselves, shouting. And young Dickie’s bright face there, somehow the center of events.

All witnesses at a certain stage agreed that there was Something Funny About That Bus. Funny? queried the senior policeman. He was Welsh, from the Valleys, and you had to be smart to put one past his acute mind. What did they mean by funny? And at that they all seemed to hesitate, at a loss, and look at each other, and only young Dickie had the answer.

“The passengers. They didn’t seem—well, real, human. You know what I mean. Well, like tailors’ dummies. I caught a glimpse.”

Everyone began to talk, to agree. Yes, that was it, that’s what it was like, why the bus was funny. The passengers, swaying there, smiling or not smiling, staring fixedly ahead. Tailors’ dummies. That’s what they thought at the time.

“All right, so the bus was full of tailors’ dummies,” said the Welsh bobby, not allowing even a hint of sarcasm, surprise or disbelief to mar his tones. “So what happened?”

They told him, prompting each other, and it was surprising how much sharp young Dickie knew of events.

The bus came along. It pulled into a stop outside Boots. The conductress, shortish, fattish, blue uniform very shiny from use (curious how observant some of those people were, each supplementing the other’s details), called, “Plenty of room on top!” Very brisk and hearty, everyone said. And then?

Now, that was puzzling. The story varied only slightly. A tiny queue of people shuffled forward to get on the bus. An oldish woman—some said a very old woman—was first in the queue. She was reaching for the handrail to haul herself on to the platform and then—

“And then what?” asked the Welsh cop as all seemed to pause. His oppo, a big young bobby from Bradford, was trying to keep pace with the talk, looking somewhat unfamiliar with pencil and notebook.

Then the conductress lifted a stout leg, her foot planted itself on the chest of the oldish woman, straightened and the poor old duck went flying back into the queue, knocking them for six.

And then the conductress rang the bell three times, which means, keep going, mate, we don’t stop for anyone now, and the bus seemed to jump into top speed immediately and went careering along the High Street, while the conductress held on to the brass rail and laughed uproariously at the tumbled queue and shouted, “Plenty of room on top!”

The Welsh cop looked startled for a moment, tried to see how his Bradford chum was reacting, then recovered. He stared at a High Street that looked as if war had come to it—crowds of people seemed to be racing in from side streets. Someone had phoned the ambulance service and now they were coming in relays on to the street. A motorcycle cop parked his machine, then like a thing from outer space came pushing through to join his comrades.

It was what happened when the bus leapt away from the stop that was so startling. So many people clamored to tell the story, and again Dickie was one of them, more articulate than the rest, so that in time the Welsh cop was addressing most of his questions to the young editorial dogsbody.

People had been crossing the High Street at the zebra crossing between the Co-op and the George. A woman pushing a pram was there—one of those pushcart things designed to take twins, and twins were in it. An oldish man with a limp was on the crossing. Two or three housewives with their shopping. Another old woman, though everyone agreed she’d been pretty sprightly and leapt for it, clear of danger.

And the bus didn’t stop. On the contrary it was accelerating all the way from Boots. The horror of that moment was too strong for many of them and someone fainted and others had to go and sit down and not be reminded of it.

The bus deliberately drove into the people on the crossing. The woman with the pushchair thing saw it bearing down on her, towering above her, and started to scream and everyone down that street heard the terrible sound.

The big red London bus knocked her flat. The front offside wheel smashed the pushchair and went over the two children. The old man went down, the shoppers, their bags and baskets flying. All down under the wheels of the bus.

“Carnage,” someone in the crowd said. Sobbing broke out at the memory.

Hysteria was in the air again.

“Crushed. Bits of stuff scattered across the road. And—blood.” A man with a hoarse voice, face white. He kept on about “Crushed” and “Bits of stuff” until the Welsh bobby asked him to shut up, people were going down like ninepins. Ambulance men were getting the driver out of the car that had made unusual entry into Jolly’s Sandwich Bar.

“Heart,” thought Butty, from the doorway, watching. “Shock.” It was only later that he got the story. Just now what surprised him was to keep seeing young Dickie right there amid the crowd, talking at times very animatedly to the policeman, and the publisher there, too, beside Dickie, and shoving a verbal oar in occasionally himself. Butty was puzzled. He could have gone over and joined the crowd, but he didn’t like crowds and anyway his cold made him feel anti-social. Roll on five-thirty.

But it was the crew of the bus that created the hysteria that was subtly changing into anger among the crowd.

“It was deliberate,” protested a decent-looking chap who was probably an accountant or a local government official. “Quite deliberate. The driver not only drove callously and deliberately into those people on the crossing, but he seemed to feel it was an enormous joke.”

“Joke?” The Bradford cop made his solitary verbal contribution to the occasion.

“He was laughing. Roaring his head off. Could hardly keep the bus straight. Sitting up in his cab howling away as if it was the funniest thing in the world.” One voice after another taking up the patchwork tale, creating a picture that shocked.

Even the Welsh bobby was set aback. “It was no accident?” They shouted him down. “And he drove away laughing?”

“Blood on his wheels,” someone said hysterically and screamed to draw attention to herself.

“Bits of stuff scattered all over,” said the man with the hoarse voice, getting it in again.

“Laughing his bloody head off,” Confirmation from all points of the crowd. Even Dickie could confirm it. And the publisher. Butty asked questíons later, when he knew of the publisher’s confirmation. In fact it probably started him off in his thoughts.

The Welsh cop was looking a bit dazed. This was something beyond his normal ken. Helplessly he stared round. Ambulance men were picking people up on stretchers. A police car came sirening through the shocked but excited crowd.

Dickie made a contribution: “The conductress. I saw her as I ran out. She was simply rolling around on the platform. Hanging on to the pole. Laughing so much I thought she’d fall off any minute. She was still shouting, ‘Plenty of room on top’!”

The crowd remembered then. A roar of utter fury went up from them, pressing round the police. The utter heartlessness of the bus crew incensed them, so that if they had fallen into the crowd’s hands at that moment undoubtedly they would have been lynched.

“Over them pore kids,” a woman said, then sobbed and broke down.

“Wheel right over them,” a man said quietly, face ashen remembering. The publisher nodded, feeling sick.

Police from the other car were pushing through the crowd. Some of the pickets from the industrial estate were there, banners waving above the crowd. BAN YOG 45, Butty read from a distance. “It’s a capitalist trick,” shouted one of the demonstrators. The Welshman, who had secretly voted Labour ever since he could say ‘Nye Bevan’ looked his scorn at this political solution to the problem perplexing him.

“Frank,” he said when the other crew came up. “Better get a call out for a bus, driver and conductress behaving curiously. Probably drunk. Mowed down some people on a pedestrian crossing then drove off at speed.” He turned to the crowd. “What happened to the bus? I mean, which way did it go?”

A pause. The crowd looking at each other, pondering. Then someone said, hesitantly, “Well, it sort of—well, disappeared.”

“What do you mean, disappeared?” The Welshman.

They looked at each other again, all those faces pressing close around him.

The man said, helplessly, “Well…just that. One moment it was there. The next it wasn’t. It disappeared.”

Too much for the Welshman at last. A snap of temper in his voice, his language un-policelike. “What the bloody hell are you talking about? A bus—disappeared? You mean, dissolved like smoke?”

Nobody would answer him. No one would confirm what he said. No one wanted to be told he was off his head by that caustic Welsh voice, yet they all looked at each other and all knew. They had seen it with their own eyes, they were able to tell themselves, just as they had witnessed the dreadful tragedy on the crossing, and then the car taking avoiding action as the bus swerved and Jolly’s Take Away Sandwich Bar suffering in consequence.

Somehow the hysteria was abating now. The street was almost solidly packed with people, and perhaps comfort came with crowdedness and fear went, though still some cried their anguish at what they had seen.

“Those poor bairns,” a girl-mother cried over and over again. “And their poor mother. I’ll never forget it. Never. Seeing her just before.…” They couldn’t stop her talking.

An ambulance pushed slowly along the road. The Welsh cop called out to the driver. “What’s the damage, Nobby? Killed, I mean. How many?” And the crowd waited in horror for the score.

Nobby looked vague. “Killed? I’ve got some shock patients aboard. Killed?” He shook his head. “I don’t know.” He drove on.

The police were moving the crowd now. A superintendent from the Ambulance Division could be seen along the road by the Co-op. The Welsh bobby took some names—Dickie’s first; even the publisher’s, curiously—then headed towards the zebra crossing.

The superintendent said, “It’s a to-do, Taffy, it’s a to-do.” A migrant from Yorkshire, affable behind gleaming false teeth, eyes happy at the turmoil behind their glasses. He said, cheerfully, “Everybody gone mad, or someat?” But it was good for trade.

Taffy stared at him. “Hasn’t nobody told you? I mean.…” He looked at the zebra crossing. A lot of people were gawking at it. “I mean, those people killed.”

The Yorkshire superintendent’s gleaming smile vanished. “Killed?” He looked round, quickly, as if afraid he had missed something obvious. “Who’s been killed?” Taffy recited—a mother and twins, some women shoppers, an old limping man.

The superintendent studied the cop for quite a long while. Then he said slowly. “Are you out of your mind? None of my men reported any killed. Now, they would have done, wouldn’t they, if there’d been any?” Vigor in his voice. “You can’t come the old mullarkey with Yorkshire folk, tha knows. Down to earth. Don’t get kidded. Go on, Tatty, show me where they are. Who’s been pullin’ thy leg lad?”

But a Welsh policeman was looking at the crossing for traces of blood. There weren’t any. He was looking for pieces of crushed pushchair the debris from flying shopping baskets. There weren’t any. And no corpses.

The publisher and Dickie came back some time later wth the full and incredible story. Both were curiously subdued, more remarkable in the publisher than in Dickie. They came in and sat down with that air of slumping which tells of mental exhaustion. As if, Butty thought, stunned. Not that he cared. He was feeling like death warmed up. Damned if he was going to hang on till the end of the afternoon. He’d take a MS home and read it in bed. Or not read it unless his head stopped aching.

He waited to tell the publisher of his decision, but the other two had started talking. Talking quietly, factually, deliberately Telling of events on the High Street, reconstructing it, and Butty had to listen and yet he wasn’t interested.

From the doorway he’d thought someone was knocked down. Crowds gathered like harpies when there was a real accident. Though part of his mind was puzzled because of the unusual amount of hysteria that had resulted, which he had felt even from a distance.

But he got a shock from their story when they came to the end. He hadn’t been really listening, so he had to drag their last words out of his mind, repeat them to get them confirmed, before he could begin to think of them and their implications.

“You say a bus deliberately ran clown a lot of people including some babies, yet when the ambulances turned up there were no bodies?” Put like that it made them squirm.

“But we saw then, saw it happen.” Dickie speaking passionately, young eves holding horror, yet incredulous, bewildered. The publisher nodded heavily “It was slaughter,” Dickie shuddered. “On the crossing.”

Butty fought through his cold. There were a lot of loose ends hanging about but for the moment his thick head wouldn’t let him put hem together. All he could say was, “You don’t kill people and then not have bodies.”

Dickie said, his voice quite steady, low and positive, “I saw with my own eyes a bus wheel go right over that pram. I saw the children.…”

He went into the toilet and they heard him being sick. The publisher just sat there. Butty put his hands to his aching head. He didn’t want to think. After a while Dickie came out, drained and exhausted.

The publisher said, with real kindness, “I think you ought to go home, Armstrong.” It was the kindness that comes from comradeship in terrible circumstances. Butty thought, “That means I can’t go early.” Sod Dickie and his queasy stomach. One of them would have to stay. The publisher wouldn’t allow them both away from the office at once.

Dickie, looking shocked, said, “I might be sick again. In the street. I think I’ll stay for a while.”

Dalrymple came in from next door, smelling of the old books he sold. His catarrhal voice honked, “You’d have thought it was Hitler and his V2s again.”

It was some time before they realized that he knew nothing of the events along the road, just the big crowd that had mysteriously gathered. He’d gone back to his shop and busied himself setting up the table that had collapsed “—because of that jinx,” Dalrymple said. All this time he’d been sorting his precious books into alphabetical order again. “Damned fellow!” he ended wrathfully.

In defense of a man who liked books, even if he didn’t buy them, Butty said, “You said he was nowhere near the table when it collapsed. Why blame him?”

Dalrymple was impatient with details. “It was him. I don’t know how he does it. Wherever he goes things happen. Well, in my shop. Every time he comes in, things fall, collapse. Though he’s nowhere near. Call it coincidence if you like, but—” He brooded. A reasonable man reluctant for once to reject the unreasonable.

That scratchy fingernail on his bristly chin. A sagacious look out through the doorway. “Wouldn’t put it past him to have caused that there, whatever it was.”

Butty looked at young Dickie at that moment, and saw shock there, as if thoughts almost too great for his mind to assimilate were never the less having to be ingested. Slowly Dickie turned to look at them in turn. Dalrymple went out. He had no time in his life for anything except books. The world’s tragedies would go on, but Dalrymple wouldn’t be concerned. Only when a shelf collapsed or a table fell down, throwing his books into disorder, was he roused to normal human emotion.

The publisher seemed to sense a change in the young editorial assistant, for he said again, “I think you’d better go home. You look knocked up.”

But Dickie didn’t seem to hear him. His eyes were far distant. He said, “I didn’t think of it at the time, but he was there.”

“What?” Butty. But not really interested.

“That chap. The fellow that brings disaster.” Dickie’s eyes met Butty’s, very straight and unflinching. “I saw him. Hanging about. Laughing. Yes, I think he was laughing. Yes, I’m sure of it now.”

Butty picked up his dirty Mac off the floor where it had fallen from the hat stand. Pulled it on, unheeding collar turned in. He was tired, tired, tired. The hell with everything.

“I’m going home,” he said, and went. The publisher roused himself to a minor show of indignation, then slumped back into his dreadful thoughts.

Butty came in next day. That was all he needed, one blissful day dozing in bed. Of course another day, and even the weekend, would have been better, but in spite of his morose temper with the boss, Butty was in fear of his job. Too long away, and one never knew. So he came in, not better but, well, better.

Dickie obviously wanted to talk about the previous day’s events. He carried with him an air of suppressed excitement. But Butty didn’t want to talk. He wanted to get straight with yesterday’s mail, and see what was in today’s.

Fortunately light, this day. Only one MS. First para: “The big ship steadied, the side thrusters blasting momentarily, bringing the bow round on course. Matt’s voice was quiet, narrowed gray eyes on the scanner and the picture it provided of the alien craft a thousand miles away. “We can’t take any risks,” he told them, hanging on to the words of their intrepid commander. “Bring the ray guns to bear.” A pause. His solid jaws set, displaying nothing of the emotion that raced inside him. ‘Fire’!”

Butty said, “Crap for you, Dickie. Just your barrow.” And threw the manuscript across.

The publisher came in shortly after ten. He was in a brisk, no-nonsense mood. “We got behind yesterday,” he said, and his voice accused Butty for going. Dickie, apparently, had manfully stayed on and worked, gallantly holding on to his stomach. So he started in at Butty, wanting to know what had happened to the page proofs of Planet of Doom and The Lost Constellation. Had lettering been done for the covers for July? And that agreement with the Sutton Coldfield author, had it turned up? On and on, a peevish man this morning, without pretence of good humor, grinding down on poor Butty.

About quarter to eleven Frances came in with the morning coffee. She used a biscuit-tin lid for a tray, and as usual it was considerably awash. Frances was the typist next door. She was pregnant, complacent about it, and because she was leaving she had no fear any longer for the publisher and his ill-humors.

She said, “They’re all down the street.”

The publisher gingerly wiped the bottom of his cup on a piece of blotting paper, then set it down on another piece of paper. They didn’t run to saucers in this publishing house.

“I wish you wouldn’t slop coffee everywhere,” he said, grieved. Then followed up her statement. “Who’s down the street?”

“The fuzz.” Frances wriggled a bit, to settle more comfortably into tights that daily grew tighter. “They’re calling on all the shops, asking questions about yesterday.”

“Yes, yes,” said the boss. It was almost as if he had a hangover, the after-effects of yesterday’s excitement. Not so Dickie, who plainly would have talked if he had been encouraged. Once during the morning, in fact he had asked, “Seen the papers?” but Butty hadn’t and the boss frowned, wanting to keep hard on to Butty for missing some work the previous day.

The police came just when the morning picket went trooping by, their lollypops damning war and particularly YOG 45. They were honored with a chief superintendent of police and a detective-sergeant. Old Dalrymple next door had a mess sergeant and ordinary bobby, and they didn’t waste much time with him.

The super was supremely courteous, beautifully tailored and impressive—senior police officers are the smartest dressed men in the country, thought Butty, who was not the smartest-dressed science fiction editor in the country.

The super said, “There was an incident in the High Street yesterday. Can any of you tell me anything about it?”

Dickie began with enthusiasm. Then the publisher joined in after a hesitant start but became almost as voluble as Dickie. As if deciding that the morning would be wasted, anyway, so he might just as well get his share of pleasure from it as anyone else.

And Butty listened and after a while marveled at Dickie and the boss, but said nothing. Once, noticing his silence, the super turned to him and asked, “Weren’t you here, yesterday?”

“Oh, I was here, all right,” said Butty, giving a sniff. Cold almost better but still there, running down his nose. “But I didn’t witness anything.”

Large smile from the super. “Well, you’re the only person on the High Street who didn’t. Never had so many witnesses.” He frowned, as if that was puzzling. And then his brow corrugated tiredly, as if he had been up all night.

“Witnesses?” He ruminated. “They saw a bus drive over a pram containing two kids. Saw them crushed beneath the wheels. Saw others killed. The bus driver laughing his head off as if it was a great joke.”

He looked at them. “You’ve seen the morning’s papers? All those people saw it happen, but no one found any bodies. What happened to them? He looked bewildered. “Too many people tell the same, identical story. They saw it all happen, on the zebra crossing by the Co-op. All right, but we can’t trace any woman with two kids…or anyone missing. And no bodies. Just a lot of people dropping down in faints because of shock. What happened?”

He was a helpless man.

The publisher sat with his eyes downcast. Dickie fídgeted. Then said, “Well, I saw it happen. Or thought I did.”

“So did I.” The publisher. “Saw it with my own eyes.”

Butty said, “You couldn’t have,” and they all swung round on him, though Dickie was nodding and smiling brightly.

The publisher was indignant. “What d’you mean, I couldn’t have? I saw it, I tell you.” His face was a truculent threat.

Butty rubbed his glasses ferociously. He said, “You were in this office here with me when it happened. Dickie shot out and might have seen something—” Even so, his manner conveyed doubt about the possibility. “But you took time to follow. You shut the safe. We went to the door an stood together. I saw nothing, so you couldn’t have seen more than I did. Then you shot off to join the mob. But whatever had happened had happened by then. You couldn’t have—couldn’t have seen what you say you saw.”

The publisher rose slowly. His controlled movement was to convey the utmost in threat to his employee. His voice was soft, which is yet another w of projecting malignancy.

“Are you telling me I’m making up a story? Can you sit there and tell me I’m lying, that I didn’t see what I saw? Are you mad, Butteridge?”

Butty took courage. “Not mad, but you didn’t see what you thought yoi saw.”

And at that Dickie leapt in with his wonderful theory, the superintendent and the detective-sergeant swinging their heads from one speaker to another.

Dickie said, “It didn’t happen. It couldn’t have happened, even though hundreds of people swore they saw it happen. If you run over people there must be bodies. There weren’t any. So it didn’t happen. It only happened in our minds.”

The superintendent said, tiredly, “That’s what the M.O. said. Mass hallucination followed by mass hysteria.”

The publisher protested. “Oh, come now, that’s a bit far-fetched, isn’t it? I mean, here’s a street full of people, and all at once everyone sees something and now we’re told it happened only in their minds. I mean—” Butty wished he would stop saying, ‘I mean’, “I mean, well, people don’t all go bonkers at once, not without cause.”

The superintendent agreed with him. “That’s what we’re here to try to find out. What happened to cause all those people to imagine they saw one certain picture at precisely the same moment, a picture—an event—which by the evidence demonstrably did not happen.” He leaned forward, eyes weary. “What did it? What triggered off this hallucination, if it was that? Something did it, because in this world nothing happens without a cause.” A policeman speaking. Find the motive.

Dickie spoke, young voice very confident, very clear. “There are two recorded cases in history of mass hallucination like this.” They all turned on Dickie. Butty thought the remarkable thing was that Dickie should quite willingly, openly, admit that what he said he saw yesterday was a figment of his imagination. Not everyone could do that. The publisher, for instance.

Dickie said, “Some time in the 1890s there was an incident in a canton in Eastern Switzerland. A tiny village, with a big wooden hotel. It set on fire. One moment there was no fire, the next it was an inferno. The whole village saw it and were shocked by the suddenness of events.”

Butty nodded, but no one noticed. Dickie was reminding him.

“An entire village bore witness to that fire, and to the people who leapt to their death from the blazing upper rooms. I remember, they even saw a mother throw her child down to be caught, but it was missed and died. The whole village saw that tragedy. Yet next day the hotel was there. When they woke up, the hotel was there and so were all the guests. Nobody hurt.”

“And the other similar event?” Was the superintendent really interested in young Dickie and his stories? Dickie was enthralled to recite them. Butty took off his glasses and screwed up his eyes. Beginning of a headache again. Yes, he should have stayed away another day and blow the boss.

“That was later,” Dickie, reveling in their attentions. “Just before World War I. It was on the Rhine. September, I think it was, the time of the wine festival. A lot of the villagers had gone on a steamer up the Rhine as part of the celebrations. They came back in the evening, and the rest of the village was down at the landing stage to serenade their return with a band. All told the same story.

“The steamer was only a few hundred yards from the bank, when there was an explosion—”

“And also a fire.” Butty spoke.

Dickie looked a mite disappointed. “Oh, you know the story?”

Butty nodded. “It’s been told often enough. It seems to get more precise and detailed the longer in time it is from the event. But do go on, this is your story.”

Slightly subdued, Dickie continued. “Horrified villagers saw people running about the decks on fire. They saw people jumping into the water, drowning before their eyes, before they could run for rowing boats to save then. There was another violent explosion and almost at once the ship sank, taking down with it over a hundred men, women and children. They saw it, close on two hundred villagers, including the German band. It was a night of horror for them.

“Yet next morning when they stirred, there was the steamer tied to the landing stage, not in the least harmed. And no one was missing from the village.”

The superintendent looked at the detective-sergeant, then he rose and absent-mindedly brushed the editorial dust from his well-pressed trousers.

“Yes, yes,” he said. Then again, “Yes.” He drew on a great breath and said, “Well, thank you, gentlemen. Very interesting, I must say.”

Why did you say it? thought Butty. You know your time is being wasted, why don’t you come out with it?

“We must go and interview others,” said the super, but his tone said he didn’t think it would do much good. He said, using that now slightly old-fashioned term, “Good day, gentlemen,” and they went.

Dickie was a bit hurt, his rampaging enthusiasm snubbed. When they were through the door his indignation burst out. “That’s the trouble, they’ve no imagination, so they can’t see. They can’t explain yesterday’s mass hallucination, but they haven’t time to listen.”

Butty said, gently, “The einflubgeist?” making it up because he couldn’t remember exactly.

Dickie said, “The ein— Oh, you mean that fellow.” He shot a grateful glance at Butty. This was an encouragement for him to go on with his story.

Dickie said, “I’d forgotten what he was called—”

“Einflubgeist.” Fortunately Butty was able to remember his invented title. And wickedly. “It means, freely translated, ‘influencing ghost or spirit’.” Though to himself he was amused, realizing it meant nothing of the sort, but Dickie wouldn’t know.

The publisher had to come in then. “What’s this ein thing?”

“You’ve heard of a poltergeist? Malignant spirit? Well, something like that.” Dickie, imprecise but near enough to satisfy a publisher.

“German,” added Butty, delicately holding on to his humor because he was beginning to see the truth. “They go in a lot for those sort of wicked spirits, those Teutons. Thick with them in Bavaria.”

“What about this ghost thing?” The publisher frowned and looked at his watch.

“That was the only explanation that was ever given for the two events,” said Dickie. “Something triggered off their imaginations all at once. Something projected the same pictures into all their minds, and they believed, just as we believed yesterday, that they saw what they didn’t see.”

“But what?” An impatient publisher now.

“This einflubergeist. In Germany they believe that influences move around the world in the guise of men but not real men. They are emotions, not substantial. They merely have physical form—”

“Why?” Butty. “Why do they need to have physical form at all?” Butty amused. Dickie ignored him.

“When they appear there is always tragedy—or the appearance of tragedy. In that Rhine village and in Switzerland people spoke of a stranger—and strangers weren’t common in small places in those days.” Dickie looked at Butty. Deliberately— “In both cases they painted the same picture. A man, difficult to describe because he seemed of no age, no features to remember him by—just a vague creature, poorly dressed, shabby.”

“In fact,” helped Butty, “just like the fellow who upset the table outside Dalrymple’s yesterday.” He turned to the publisher. “You know, the weirdie you sent packing because he looked a bum.”

The publisher was a little proud of the memory and nodded.

Young Dickie took the plunge. “Just like him. Mr. Butteridge, something happened yesterday that was above natural laws of explanation. You tell me, how can the same identical story leap into a hundred people’s minds when it didn’t happen? Something happened to plant those pictures in those minds. I still think I saw them. They’re vivid to me. Yet I am prepared to accept that I didn’t see them. Even so, I want to know—what put the pictures into our minds, the same pictures at the same moments?”

The Swiss and the Germans blamed it on the passing stranger.” Butty was on sure ground. “Passing strangers have been lynched for unaccountable happenings to communities right through the ages. You should read The Witches of Salem. Not quite the same, but it does demonstrate the power of hysteria.”

Dickie said levelly, not liking to be laughed at, “Both the Swiss and the Germans put down the hallucination to the presence and influence of the einflubgeist. For them there was no other explanation. In some mysterious way that stranger in their midst was able to influence their minds. They saw—or thought they saw—tragedy. And in both cases, next day the stranger had gone and was never seen again.” His young voice ended on triumph.

Butty squashed him easily. He felt rather a cad for doing so, for Dickie was a nice lad, just quaint because he liked bug-eyed monsters.

“Now, Dickie, are you saying that yesterday’s hallucination was caused by that weirdie who showed up here only a minute or so before the event?”

Put like that, Dickie wasn’t on such firm ground. He wavered. “Well, not exactly.” He pondered and saw for the first time where a vivid imagination could take one—into quicksand that could bring shame and retraction. Defiantly, “All right, but what’s your explanation? What caused it all?”

Butty looked out on to the High Street, seeing Dunn’s the gents’ hatters opposite. His eyes lifted to the tall chimneys on the industrial estate behind. No smoke today. Good. Smokeless zones are to be observed.

Butty said, “I approve of your explanation. It was the work of an einflubgeist.”

The publisher said, “Oh, come off it, Butteridge. Even I can’t swallow that. And let’s stop talking. God knows, we’re so far behind we’ll have nothing to publish next month.”

Neither took any notice of him. Dickie said, “But I thought you were deriding my theory?”

“I am. So far as the weirdie is concerned. He wasn’t the einflubgeist,” He looked at Dickie, smiled slightly, and said, “You were it.”

Dickie just sat there with his mouth open. Butty said, “Let us accept that something put people into a mental condition where they could be receptive to thought suggestions. I have a theory about that.” His eyes looked through the doorway again. “At that very moment—and it must have been exactly at that moment—something happened to cause a stir, a bit of a panic, a commotion.”

That car that ended up in Jolly’s window, thought Butty. Yes, that would be the thing that triggered things off, first aroused emotions. The driver—a heart attack—a swerve. Into the window and everybody shouting and running like mad. Young Dickie drawn out by the noise, and then the publisher. And then—But first something had tampered with all those minds down the High Street.

Butty looked at Dickie. “You did it. You have a wonderfully fertile imagination. You handle imaginative writing, science fiction, good, bad and plain lousy. Your job is to deal with ideas, wild ideas at times, richly imaginative ideas occasionally. So your mind is a stockpot of many men’s inventiveness, so that when the time came you were able to draw upon your imagination.”

Dickie was incredulous. He just stared at Butty, then said, “Are you telling me I went into that crowd and made up the whole story about the conductress and the bus and those people being run down?”

Butty was laughing. “Well, someone did, didn’t they?”

Dickie snapped, “You must think I’m mad.”

Butty shook his head, “Oh, you didn’t do it consciously. Perhaps someone else even started it off. An odd phrase— ‘These damn’ buses. Shouldn’t be on the High Street. That caused the accident.’ I don’t know, I’m only ad libbing. But you have an inventive mind and you probably started off the crowd and they responded and you accepted their statements and built upon them and between you in no time you had worked out a story which in their condition they saw as pictures in their minds.”

“I saw them.” The publisher was looking hard at Butty. He was entertaining some theory of his own now, and by the look of things it would not be in Butty’s favor.

Butty said, “That was it. All in seconds a story built up, and those who had been influenced accepted it and believed they saw the events invented.”

Dickie was a little dazed. “I can’t really accept that.” He began to protest, as anyone would in his situation. “I mean, being responsible for all that hysteria.” He was shuddering, Sick inside, thinking, “Great God, if it’s true and it comes out in the papers.” Then he said, suspicious, “But people aren’t normally responsive to suggestions like that. If I went into the street right now and shouted to people that a bus was mowing down pedestrians on the zebra crossing, they’d take one look then—”

“Then tell you to get stuffed.”

“It happened yesterday, though, according to your theory. What’s different?”

Butty sighed. He had to use his handkerchief again. “That chimney isn’t smoking. The wind isn’t swinging a down draught on to the High Street.”

The publisher had lost all interest. He snapped, “Stop playing detectives. This is something far above your head. Leave police work to the police.”

Deliberately Butty said, “This is science fantasy on a vastly higher plane than anything you publish.” He would probably get fired for that. Butty knew he had been asking for the boot for some days past. But, the hell with this job.

He said, “Every day we see protestors go by to picket USUK Chenucal Company’s premises. Why? Why do they do it? Because USUK are known to be researching in chemicals for use in warfare. They’ve a number already on the market, some used by police in uncivilized countries. I mean by that, in the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Northern Ireland.

“What these young people are picketing against, however, is YOG 45, the Eunuch Drug, as the popular press have called it. Used against an enemy and it makes them as docile, as unaggressive as eunuchs are supposed to be.” Butty was thoughtful. “Not that castration does make all eunuchs unaggressive—history gives the lie to that.”

The publisher was getting tizzier because time was going on. Now, rather like a spoilt child, he had to say, “I thought you approved of drugs that made people content, unwarlike, un-aggressive?”

“Not if they are employed by war-like people seeking to hurt and to dominate.” Butty could dispose of the publisher any time he liked.

Dickie was startled at the idea. “You think some YOG 45 escaped into the High Street.” His mind jumped on to it eagerly. This was rich, real SF. He frowned. There were snags to the theory.

“Not necessarily YOG 45, probably not that at all. But something, something else they manufacture. Something that went up in smoke yesterday morning—probably by accident. Right at the time I saw white vapor—” He pointed to one of the chimneys on the industrial estate. “I remember wondering about it—smokeless zone, you know. Seemed to last too long for steam. And it blew down, down towards us. Down on to the High Street.”

Dickie was on edge. He got up and walked two or three irresolute steps across the office. Plainly he wanted to run out and discuss excitedly this theory.

“Just a whiff,” said Butty. “Probably affected only this part of the High Street and nowhere else. A whiff, but it created conditions fertile for hallucinations. A hundred or so people affected. And between you, building up this mass hallucinatory effect.”

Dickie said, “That’s it, that’s it. A hallucinatory drug, then…imagination.”

“Yours,” grinned Butty. “Master of space Bug science Fiction professional sensational man, harborer of way-out ideas.”

The publisher finally exploded. He stood up, almost raving. “You go on and on, yacking. You think because you handle SF you’ve got a superior insight into things. But you haven’t. You’re too clever by half, that’s your trouble.”

They blinked at him. He was really in a paddy, but much more so, his sarcasm rasped like a power-tool saw. The publisher was well and truly worked up. Butty experienced a spasm of unease.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, YOG 45. You’re just carried away with absurd theories when you know they don’t stand the test at all. Think, man, think.” He was unpleasant to Butty, leering at him.

Butty went stiff-faced, thinking, “Think what?” His mind racing to see what he might have overlooked. Dickie just stood there, motionless.

The publisher. He troweled on his sarcasm. “You say a gust of wind came down, blowing some hallucinatory drug on to the High Street and into this office?”

Butty caught on. Too late. The publisher pounced for the kill.

“All right, Superior Intellect, if it affected Armstrong and me, why didn’t it affect you?”

And Butty hadn’t a word to say to that. So curious, the weakness in his theory just hadn’t occurred to him. He could only look at the publisher, staring, helpless. And Dickie was looking at him, pleading for support, wanting now to believe in this YOG 45, or whatever it was theory.

Butty went to his desk and sat down. He didn’t say anything, because he had nothing to say. Right back to the beginning? was his thought. He’d had no hallucinations.…

The boss wasn’t a man to leave things alone. This was his moment of triumph. “I tell you, you can’t see wood for trees. You’re so damned sure of yourself. you won’t believe what others tell you. Nothing on earth will you convince me that what I saw yesterday was a hallucination. Nothing.” A resolute, no=-nonsense-about-me businessman. He jerked his chin up, that little gesture to show independence, toughness, down-to-earth qualities,

“Nothing.” Dozy old Dalrymple was in the doorway. The publisher ignored him. “I know my own mind, and the sooner you stop talking your fanciful theories, the sooner we’ll be in business again. Look at all the work.” He gestured towards a swollen in-tray.

Butty sat and thought. Old Dalrymple cleared his throat and said. “About those remainders.” His voice globby with catarrh.

The publisher was irritable, though it meant a pound or two of spending money. “Look, Dal, have I had time to do anything with all that happening out there, and Butteridge off with cold—and a bit off his head this morning, too,” he added maliciously.

Dalrymple honked, “Damn’ fools.”

The publisher sad, “Who? Damn’ fools?”

Dal husked, “Hysterical people, seeing corpses when there were none!”

The publisher looked huffed. Dickie turned his eyes on Butty. And Butty was getting to his feet, beginning to smile.

He said, “Mr. Dalrymple, so you weren’t affected yesterday. You didn’t see any…accident?”

Dalrymple gave a quick, birdlike look over the tops of his glasses. Very short, his answer. “Too busy putting that table up. Damned man. Hope he never comes near my shop again.”

Butty was beaming. “Blame the damp Merseyside air,” he said. Dalrymple grunted and looked surprised. “Catarrh,” said Butty. “That’s it.”

The publisher and Dickie were looking at him as if he was daft. Butty snapped his fingers. “Two of us weren’t affected. Now, why? I’m just going to make a guess. I had a cold in my head—nasal passage blocked—Mr. Dalrymple has permanent catarrh, same effect. Something to do with the nose, don’t you see? The gas affected healthy people, not people with bunged-up hooters. Dickie, don’t you see, the theory’s right, after all.”

He went out into the street. It didn’t matter what the publisher thought. This was better than reading science fiction—crap stuff, that is—and anyway he was firmly in sympathy with young people who gave their time to protesting against new weapons of war.

Butty went down the street until he found the superintendent. Then he spoke to him for quite a time, and they watched him from the door of the shop that was an unsuitable editorial premise. The superintendent spotted the local Medical Officer of Health and signaled him to stop, and then Butty talked again.

The M.O. said. “I’m grateful to you. Mr. Butteridge. I think your theory is worth testing. It hangs together. Yes, I’m really grateful.” He’d been getting nowhere. Now, this.… The M.O. began to feel excited. “Look, I’ll go round to the factory and do some checking. If I need you again, Mr. Butteridge?”

Butty gave the address of the publisher. After all, he’d still be there for another month, even if he was fired. The publisher would make him work out his time. He went back, happy. One up on his mortal enemy.

The only thing that worried the M.O. was the car that had veered into Jolly’s window. Uneasily he remembered that the driver had spoken only a few words when he regained consciousness, just before dying. And no one could have got at him with suggestion.

“The bus…damned thing.… All across the road.… Driver laughing. Mad, mad.…”

The M.O. decided to forget about the motorist. It made Butty’s theory inconsistent and he needed it.

THE DILETTANTES, by E. C. Tubb

Artrui was admiring Bulem’s new nail varnish when Velenda joined them in the breakfast room. Listlessly, she sat down, punched the button for fruit juice, and scowled at the two men. Neither of them paid her the slightest attention.

“I like it,” said Artrui enviously. “There’s something quite fascinating about the way all those tiny flecks of color shimmer when you move your hands. Prador?”

“Yes.” Bulem moved his fingers and smiled at the result, “He is experimenting with photon-trapping compounds and sent me this as a sample. Neat, isn’t it?”

“Very.” Artrui glanced distastefully at his own emerald-tipped fingers then smiled as Marya entered the room. Marya was the latest addition to the composite group, and so was extremely popular. She sat down and punched for a full meal.

“What are we doing today?”

“I’ve no idea.” Artrui sat down beside her and, with blatant intimacy, sipped from her glass. “I suppose we could go over and see Tobol. They tell me that he’s worked up some wonderful new fabrics, gossamer with iridescent panels. He’s got some new models, too, from Atheon, I believe. Atheon or maybe Xenadath, some outlandish planet like that.”

“Yolande,” corrected Velenda. No one took any notice of her.

“I’ve seen Tobol’s collection,” protested Bulem. “He hasn’t anything really new, just reworks of his old ideas. I found them intensely boring.” He looked thoughtful. “We could go to the Stadium.”

“No,” said Marya decisively. “I wouldn’t like that.”

“No?” Bulem shrugged. “Well, I must admit that the spectacle of trained animals fighting each other to the death begins to pall after a while. What would you suggest?”

“I don’t know,” snapped Marya impatiently. “Can’t you think of anything?”

“The races?” Artrui sighed at her expression. “No?” He frowned, resting the tips of his fingers against his temples in an exaggerated gesture of concentration. “Calthin? He can usually be relied on to supply something interesting. Helstart? They say that his tingle-dreams are out of this universe. Malpiquet? He has some interesting exhibits in aborted mutation which should prove interesting if you like that sort of thing.”

“I don’t,” said Marya curtly.

“We could go underworld,” suggested Bulem. Like Artrui, he was worried by Marya’s lack of response. “From what I hear it would be most interesting.”

“Is that all you can think of?” Marya didn’t trouble to hide her impatience. “I’d rather be immolated than have to wear one of those awful suits. What’s the good of going to a place where you can’t do anything?” She stretched, lifting her slender arms until the sheer gossamer of the robe she wore fell back along their smooth perfection. “What I need is something novel and exciting. Maybe.…”

“A hunt,” said Bulem quickly, before she could finish what she was going to say. “We’ve never been on a hunt before. It should prove amusing.”

“Where?” Artrui sounded dubious.

“Alpace. The entire planet is a game reservation, and we should have some good sport.”

“Killing things, you mean?” Artrui still didn’t sound too eager.

“Yes.” Bulem warmed to the idea as he thought about it. “We can get guns and things from the Warden. How about it?”

“Well.…” Artrui looked at Marya. “It’s not such a bad idea at that. It would be novel, and might turn out to be amusing. Does the idea appeal to you, Marya?”

She yawned.

“We could ask Chendis and Ardella,” continued Bulem desperately. “They would be pleased to join us, and both are amusing company. Please say yes, Marya.”

* * * *

The Warden was an old man from the Cappellian system and he had a proper awe of the stellar aristocrats. He received them in his office and awaited their pleasure as they wrangled among themselves.

“Well make this a proper expedition,” said Chendis. He was a coarse type and held peculiar theories of his own.

He consistently refused to wear nail varnish and accepted his social inferiority with a blatant carelessness which irritated rather than amused.

“That is why we are here,” said Marya coldly. She stared at the Warden. “Your advice?”

“I would suggest the hunting grounds close to the lodge.” He bowed as he spoke. Titles weren’t necessary when dealing with the stellar aristocrats, but abject politeness was. “There is easy sport there, small animals without fang or claw. They are harmless and easily killed. The grounds are within easy flying distance so that you could reside at the lodge during your stay.”

“We want none of that,” snapped Chendis decisively. “We came here for proper sport, not the emasculated version of your target ranges.” He looked at the others. “I suggest that we take some provisions and attendants, and have a heli drop us where there is some real game.” He bared his teeth.

“Big game. I want to hear something yell when I pull the trigger.”

“How revolting!” Marya accentuated a yawn with her ringed fingers. “Really, Chendis, must you be so primitive?”

“Why not? The whole idea behind a hunt is to go primitive.” He leered at her as he spoke. As he was not in the same composite as Marya, he saw no reason to pander to her whims, and he knew that he was too far down the social scale for his discourtesy to make the slightest difference.

He even winked at Velenda and she, responding to his friendship, winked back. They smiled at each other to Ardella’s annoyance and the pleased approval of the other two men.

With any sort of luck at all they might be able to persuade Chendis to take Velenda off their hands. Ardella, while no great acquisition, couldn’t possibly be as boring as Velenda.

Artrui mentally decided to sound Chendis out on the subject as soon as possible.

“I suppose that it would be safe enough,” said Bulem dubiously. As the hunt had originally been his suggestion, he was eager to see it work out to everyone’s satisfaction. “As you say, Chendis, half the fun is in getting away from luxury and really roughing it. You agree, Artrui?”

“What?” Artrui blinked. “Oh, yes. Yes, of course.”

“That’s settled then.” Bulem glanced at the Warden. “See to it.”

“At once.” The man hesitated. “You would have no objection to one of the attendants carrying weapons?”

Chendis looked annoyed. “Is that necessary?”

“The beasts are dangerous, sir. They have been especially bred so, for the benefit of seasoned hunters. The man, a warrior he is called, will be armed for the sole purpose of protecting you from harm.”

“I don’t like it,” said Chendis. “As the hunters, we should be the only ones to carry weapons.”

“It is merely a precaution, sir,” the Warden explained. He hesitated. “A party similar to yourselves went out shortly before my arrival here. They refused to take a warrior with them and were severely mauled. Two women died and two men are still undergoing plastic surgery. Naturally, the Warden responsible has been immolated, but the damage was done.”

“I see.” Chendis smiled with a touch of cruelty. “If we insisted, would you permit us to go out without this man, this warrior as you call him?”

“I could not prevent you, sir.” Sweat glistened on the Warden’s forehead. “But if anything should happen to you.…”

“Oh, leave the man alone,” snapped Velenda impatiently. “He’s only doing his job.” She ignored the Warden’s look of gratitude.

Among the rest of the party, the warrior looked like a crow in the midst of a flock of birds of paradise. Even the soft-footed attendant androids wore bright colors, usually to match the tints of their skins, but he alone wore somber black, relieved only by a simple golden insignia. He set up a small tent close to the sleeping quarters, and spent much time checking his equipment and odd-shaped weapon.

Chendis, always rather peculiar when it came to dealing with inferior races, found him a fascinating subject for study.

He waited until the others had retired and then went outside to talk to the warrior. He found him busy cleaning his weapon.

“Do you often do that?”

“Clean my gun? Sure.”

“Why?”

“So that it will work when I want it to.” The man stared at Chendis. “You aren’t a regular hunter, are you?”

“I’m a stellar aristocrat,” said Chendis. He was amused. “Do you realize what that means?”

“No.”

“It means that I and my race own almost the entire galaxy. It means that we have over two thousand subject races working solely for our benefit.”

“That’s nice.”

“You are supposed to call mc ‘sir’ when you address me,” reminded Chendis. He sighed. “Nice? Well, I suppose that it is, in a way. We don’t have to work because we can have anything we want when we want it. We have nothing to do but amuse ourselves and, because of that, we are bored all the time. Can you understand that?”

“I think so. Are the rest of you Aristocrats, too, sir?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Do all your menfolk paint their faces and hands? Sir.”

“You object?”

“Not me. We just don’t do it back home, that’s all. But you’d know about that, wouldn’t you?”

“Sir,” reminded Chendis. He shrugged. “I suppose that it is in the records somewhere. Naturally, we can’t possibly remember the details of every new world we conquer.”

“Earth.”

“Earth?” Chendis frowned. “Did I hear something interesting about the conquest of that planet?” His face cleared. “Yes, I remember now. A backward world, but the resistance to our fleets was incredible. Incredibly stupid, that is. Naturally, you couldn’t possibly avoid conquest and assimilation.”

“You pretty near wiped us out,” said the warrior. “At least, so my great-Grandfather used to tell me.” There was no resentment in his voice. The conditioning he had received made it impossible for him ever to hate those with whom he came into contact. His idiom had been left as an amusing peculiarity. Chendis looked surprised.

“As long ago as that? I had the impression that the incident occurred only a short while ago. Probably you have an extremely short life span.” He yawned and moved towards his tent.

* * * *

Hunting started at mid-morning and continued without a pause until mid-day. It was slaughter. The weapons used didn’t make a sound, but they killed just the same, and their silence was more than compensated for by the screams of disrupted animals.

The androids, emotionless flesh and blood robots, moved quietly about as they collected the bag. Once there was an argument between Ardella and Velenda as to who had killed a certain animal. And once Marya screamed with rage as she shot a careless android who had spattered the hem of her robe with blood. Other than that, the morning passed without incident.

Over the mid-day meal, Artrui talked about it. “This is real fun,” he said. “I never thought that killing things could be so amusing. Did you see how Bulem blew the back legs off that funny creature and it tried to run away?” He chuckled at the memory.

Chendis nodded.

“I’ve often thought that we miss a lot in not going primitive more often than we do. The feel of the wind against one’s face, the smooth precision of a weapon, the cunning needed to hit the target.” He sighed. “Our ancestors must have been great fighters to have left us such a heritage.”

“There is nothing clever about living in dirt,” snapped Marya. She had changed her robe, but the incident of the blood had annoyed her. “Surely even our ancestors knew that. They conquered other races and then made those races fight for them.” She yawned. “Must we talk of such things? History can be so tiresome.”

“History is what has made us,” reminded Chendis. He looked up as the somber figure of the warrior came towards them. “Yes? What is it?”

“I thought that I’d better warn you, sir,” said the warrior easily. “All that noise the animals have been making is going to attract some company. There are large animals in this forest, as well as small.”

“So?”

“So, I’d suggest that you give up hunting for the day, sir.”

“Insolence!” Artrui was on his feet before Chendis could reply. “How dare you address us so? I shall complain to the Warden! I.…” He broke off, his mouth still open. “What was that?”

“One of the big animals I was telling you about, sir.” The warrior unslung his weapon. “Hear it?”

They did. It was a kind of hissing roar coupled with the sound of a great body crashing through the undergrowth. All fell silent and, with the exception of the warrior, all seemed paralyzed with terror.

“No need to be scared,” said the warrior calmly. “Just get those guns of yours and shoot when you see it.” He paused, listening. “It’s getting close. You’d better hurry if you want to kill it.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Artrui, without waiting to see if anyone followed his example, turned and ran from the sound. Bulem followed him, knocking down Marya in his frantic hurry, closely followed by Ardella. Chendis stared wildly at Velenda, and Marya, who had regained her feet, screamed.

The cause was just before them. It was the largest animal they had faced, and yet it was little more than the height of a man. It had a round, furred head, glistening with fangs and, as it crouched ready to spring, its claws dug furrows in the ground. It hissed, staring at them with cold, yellow eyes, then tensed itself to charge.

The warrior shot it dead.

He lowered his weapon and stared somberly at the headless body before him. Next to him, Chendis was busy being very ill, and the two women had fainted at the sight of the beast. The others, human and android, were not to be seen.

Chendis, slowly recovering from his retching fear, knew that if it hadn’t been for the warrior the beast would have killed them all. “Thank you,” he said. “You saved our lives.”

“Nothing to it,” said the warrior calmly. “All you had to do was to stand and fire those guns of yours.” He seemed to remember something. “Sir.”

“We couldn’t.” For some reason Chendis felt it necessary to explain to this member of a conquered race why that was so. “We are a long way from the primitive,” he said, “and aren’t used to violence. The thought of death, our death, is horrible to us. We can’t help it. At the prospect of personal danger we suffer from a peculiar numbness that affects our reactions. I don’t know what it is.”

“Cowardice.”

“What?” The word was strange to Chendis. “What was that you said?”

“Nothing.” For a long moment the warrior stood and stared at Chendis. “You don’t have to explain. I understand all right…sir.” He slung his weapon and moved away from the dead beast. Chendis stared after him.

It was nothing really, nothing at all, and yet it disturbed him. Chendis, a Stellar Aristocrat, had met the members of many subject races during his long life, but never before had he met one with the expression this man of Earth had in his eyes.

Contempt.

He wondered why.

EMERGENCY EXIT, by E. C. Tubb

It came like a gentle benison from heaven upon the place beneath, a soft yet steady downpour, drumming with a thousand fingers on the shattered rubble above and seeping through cracked brick and moldy plaster, splintered beams and twisted steel as it sought the soft, rich loam far below the mountains of man-made debris.

Ron Prentice liked the sound of the rain. He liked it even when it wet his tattered clothing and turned the inside of his shelter into a streaming, wet-walled cavern. He liked to lie on the heap of rotting sacks and salvaged paper which served as a bed and listen to it and, in imagination, he thought of it washing away the dirt and destruction littering the face of the earth and restoring it to its primeval beauty.

It never did, of course. It would take more than rain to sweep aside the jumble of geared concrete and war-tom brick. That would take time, eons of passing years, the heat of summer and the freezing chill of winter. It would take wind and blown soil, humus and wind-borne seeds. It might take a thousand years, more than that, and sometimes, in idle imagery, Ron wished that he could live so long.

He wouldn’t, of course, and he knew it, but dreams were cheap and there was little else to do but dream. And so he lay, staring at the trickling water until the dim light filtering through a dozen crevasses faded and died into the soft velvet of night then, painfully, he rose.

The pains weren’t so bad tonight. Not as they had been three nights ago when he hadn’t eaten for a week, and not as bad as they had been two nights ago when he had gorged his stomach full, but they were there, with him as his breath was with him, as his skin, as the hair on his head and the fingers on his hands. He lived with pain, slept with it, ate with it. He had long forgotten what it was to be without pain. Sometimes, when they were too bad, he would rise from his apology of a bed and stride about his scooped-out cave in the mountain of rubble, biting his wrists and slamming his hands against the jagged stone. Sometimes he would curse himself and all those before him and once, but only once, he had actually left his cave and wandered for hours in the cold light of a winter’s day. But that had only happened once, when the pains were more than he could bear, and he had been very lucky then.

He had not done it again.

Now he waited, mastering his impatience as he had done a thousand times before, adjusting his clothing and making certain that his weapons were to hand. There were two of them. A long, razor-edged, needle-pointed knife and a short, lead-weighted club. One day perhaps he would get a gun, eyen one of the air pistols would be valuable, but until then he had to make do with what he had.

After a while, when he was sure that the cloak of night was tightly drawn about the world, he wriggled his way out into the open air.

It was still raining, the water splashing as it rebounded from the twisting lane of cracked cement writhing between the heaped rubble, and the sound of it as it trickled in a hundred streams from the torn ruins mingled with the splashing and filled the night with the hint of fairy bells and elfin chiming. He was glad of the sound for rain meant that the streets would be almost deserted and there would be few eyes to mark his passage and follow his trail. Moving with silent caution, a shadow among shadows, he made his way towards the center of the city.

Lights blazed there, smoking animal-fat lamps suspended from high poles, and the streets were clear of rubble. Houses lined the streets, the lower floors of once tall buildings, their shattered tops looking like a row of splintered teeth and candle light and lamp light shone from their papered’ windows. A few shops were still open, glassless windows displayed salvaged clothing, weapons, some of the rare cans of food, articles of metal and plastic, coils of wire and even some country produce, potatoes, greens, dried meat and shapeless mounds of butter and cheese.

Between the shops and houses, light spilling from their oiled paper windows and doors, were the taverns and gambling houses. As usual they were crowded with men and women, hard-faced and hard-eyed, dressed in an assortment of clothing and bearing an assortment of weapons. Noise spilled from them, laughter and ribald mirth, the razor-edged mirth that could change in a flash to snarling hate and savage violence, and from one tavern came the incredible sound of a mechanical jukebox playing scratched and discordant jazz.

A cart creaked down the street, a late arrival from the country districts, a dozen men straining at the shafts and a bearded carter cracking at naked backs with the thong of a rawhide whip. It rumbled towards the stables and the carter yelled savage anger as one of the haulers slipped and fell.

“Get up, you swine! Up I say!” The whip drew blood from a heaving back. “Get up or I’ll strip the skin from your back and feed you to the dogs!”

Painfully the man struggled to his feet and leaned against the ropes. Blood ruled from the gaping wounds on his scrawny back, washed by the rain into a pink film, and his bare feet left red tracks as they thrust at the broken stone.

Silently Ron watched, standing in the darkness until the cart had creaked its slow passage down the narrow street. As usual he felt afraid. But as usual the pains fought against his fear with the agony of grim necessity, and he knew that there could be no running back, no hiding in his hidden place, no escape from reality. He had to go on.

Avoiding the brightly-lit main street he slipped through the shadows and walked cautiously down the less frequented areas. There were lights here too, smoking torches sizzling in the rain, but fewer, the patches of shadow deeper and more frequent. He did not avoid the lighted areas, to do that would be dangerous, but he strode through them with a kind of defiance, feeling the tug of fear at the nape of his neck and glad when darkness closed around him again. He halted with trained abruptness as his foot struck against something soft and yielding.

“Mister,” the beggar stared up at him in the dimness, “give me the price of a bed, will you?”

Ron said nothing, but his eyes flickered as he stared down the street.

“I’m an old man,” whined the beggar. “Ill, starving, and this rain’s killing me.” He licked his lips and his claw-like hand trembled as he thrust it, palm upwards, towards the tall man. “Just a coin or two, a crust of bread even, anything.”

“Why don’t you sleep in the ruins?”

“Are you crazy?” The beggar almost forgot to whine. “Out there? Among them?” He shuddered. “Not on your life. I’m human and I stay where I belong.” His hand trembled again. “Give me something, mister. Anything! A coin, the price of a drink. I’m starving.”

“Are you alone?” He knew the answer even as he asked the question. Beggars were never alone. They huddled in groups, in droves, each within ear and eyeshot of each other, hunched together for a meager warmth and mutual protection, gaining some degree of comfort from misery shared. Of all people the beggars were at once the most miserable and the most safe. With nothing to lose they had no fear of being robbed. With a common misery shared they had no fear of loneliness. They were the herd, protected by their; sheer poverty and numbers. It had been a mistake to ask the question.

“Alone?” Surprise and swift suspicion echoed in the whining tones. “Why?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

“Yeah? What you after?” The hunched figure stirred as the man rose to his feet and his breath was a noisome miasma as he stared at the tall man. “Say! Are you—”

The blow was swift, soundless, feral in its cold, merciless accuracy. The beggar grunted as his skull yielded to the impact of the weighed club, then as the tall man supported his sagging body he collapsed gently to the wet ground. In the dim light it would seem as though he had sat down again, and Ron jingled a few coins in his pocket as he stooped over the lifeless figure.

He was sweating as he walked away.

It wasn’t the murder, for death was nothing and a beggar less than that. It was the danger, the unnecessary risk and the awful waste. He had walked among them and he had killed, and now he was walking away while behind him—

He swallowed and forced himself not to hurry. If the watching beggars even guessed at what he had done or why he wouldn’t stand a chance. They would rend him, tear his quivering flesh, smash the life from his body and vent their insensate hate on his delicate structure. Fear walked with him as he strode through the rain, and he was glad of the shielding darkness.

He walked directly into a patrol.

Light flared at him, thrown from a shuttered lantern, and he blinked in the sudden glare, conscious of hostile eyes staring at him from the tight knot of men.

“You! What are you doing here?”

“Heading for the main section.” He forced stiff features to smile. “I’m thirsty, thought I’d get me a drink and a spin at the wheel. Why?”

They didn’t answer, but a rough hand swept the hair back from his forehead and ears and calloused fingers probed at his skull. They found the knife and club, but that meant nothing, a man would be worse than a fool to travel unarmed, and he stood, cringing a little, as they ‘examined his body.

“He seems all right, Luke,” grunted a man. “Human; anyway.”

“Sure I’m human,” he snapped, and made his voice carry injured innocence. “You think I’m one of those damn Muties?”

“You could be. They’ve been coming into town too often of late. It’s getting so a man ain’t safe after dark, and a lot of ’em are trying to pass the line.”

“Not me.” He shrugged his clothing back into position. “Thanks, anyway, I’ll be more careful.” He made as if to walk on, and halted as the hard-eyed men barred his passage. “What’s the matter?”

“In a hurry, ain’t you?”

“I’m cold and wet and I want a drink.” He glared at the men. “You’ve examined me, haven’t you? Well?”

“Where do you work? What do you do? Where do you live?” The question spat like bullets from the thin lips of the man called Luke. “I ain’t satisfied.”

“I work for myself, collecting metal, copper and zinc for Zamboni piles, some ali and iron.” Ron shrugged. “During the day I work in the ruins, but at night I come into town.”

“Address?”

“Any flop house which has a spare bed.” He grinned. “You’re wasting time. I’m okay.”

“Sounds reasonable, Luke,” said a man quietly. “He looks human, anyway, let’s get on.”

“You coming with us?” Luke stared coldly at Ron, and looking at him the tall man knew that he daren’t refuse. Suspicion was too near the razor-edge of action, and one dead man more or less wouldn’t matter. It would be simple to slam a bullet through him—just in case, and any refusal might trigger the blood lust. He nodded, falling into step with the men and waiting for a chance to dodge free. In a way it had its advantages. With the patrol he was safe, above suspicion, and could walk the streets with impunity, but within him the pains mounted, tearing at his sanity and making his hands sweat and tremble.

Grimly he bit his lips and forced himself to walk as they walked, do as they did, deliberately bumping into obstacles and cursing with human impatience. Gradually the tension eased as they accepted him for what he appeared to be, and he began looking for a chance to escape.

The sound of shots cut through the night like the repeated slamming of a door. Three of them, blurring into one long rolling explosion, then, after a pause, two more echoing down the rain-washed streets like exclamation marks, cutting across the mechanical grinding of the distant jukebox and bringing a stir of life to the huddled beggars.

Whoever had fired the shots was either a bad shot or hated what he shot at, and few men were bad shots. The echoes died, yielding to the sound of running feet and the thick, blood-crazed cursing of a man. He staggered from a leaning doorway, dressed in a tattered shirt and trousers, the pistol still in his hand, and in the sudden glare of the lantern his eyes were bloodshot and mad looking.

“Two of them,” he mouthed. “A pair of the swine. I got one but the other got away.”

“Let’s have a look.” Luke thrust himself forward and stared at the others. “Cover the back and two of you go after it.” He looked at the man. “Male or female?”

“A bitch. The pair of them were bitches.” He spat and rubbed his chin with the hand holding the pistol. “The young one got away.”

“I’ll go after it,” said Ron. He stared at Luke. “I haven’t got a gun, so could you—?”

“Go with him, Sam. You’re armed. Bring back the body if you find it, but don’t go too far out.” The lantern light glistened from Luke’s eyes. “I’ll examine this one, a female you say?”

“Yeah.” The man led the way through the doorway and Ron stared at Sam.

“Let’s go.”

It was almost too easy. Swiftly Ron led the way towards the ruins, weaving skillfully between the heaps of rubble, taking a path that twisted far from the lights and noise of the center. Sam stumbled after him, the sound of his breathing harsh against the soft murmur of the rain, cursing when he fell. The sounds of the discordant music faded into the distance, throbbing like a forgotten dream, and the smoking flares cast a dim radiance faraway.

“Take it easy.” gasped Sam. He paused, wiping his face and staring into the darkness, the pistol held tensely in his hand. “This is far enough, too far, let’s get back.”

“I think she went just a little further,” suggested Ron. “Maybe she holed up in that heap over there.” He pointed and the other man narrowed his eyes as he tried to see through the rain-dimmed night.

“She? He squinted at the tall man. “Over where? How can you see in the damn darkness?” Suspicion again. The ever-ready suspicion of a man who mistrusted everything he couldn’t understand, and Ron frowned as he realized how he had given himself away. He stepped closer to the other man.

“Look,” he said. “You can just make it out, that white blob there.” Automatically Sam turned his head, peering in the direction of the pointing arm, then stared back—too late.

First the club, the weighed material crushing thin bone with deceptive ease. Then the knife, the honed edge opening the gushing gates of life. Then—

When Ron straightened from the empty body the pains had died almost away, almost, as far as they ever died, and the trembling urgency had gone. Swiftly he examined the body, taking the pistol and the handful of cartridges, the underarm holster and the belt knife. A few coins spilled from one of the pockets and he grabbed them, thrusting them with his own. He tensed, skin prickling to primitive warning, and glided with soundless strides from the huddled figure.

A girl stumbled slowly through the darkness.

Pale she was, her skin almost luminescent in the night, with long hair straggling over her face and a thin dress, torn and soiled, clinging damply to her well-made figure. Ron stared at her, crouched beside a heap of heat-seared brick, and within him strange hunger pulsed into vibrant life.

He moved and she recoiled. He stepped forward and she shrank back, her wide eyes terrified as she stared at him. He smiled, and incredibly her fear left her, reaction slumping her body, forcing her to lean against the jumbled ruins.

“You frightened me,” she said. “I thought—”

“That I was one of the men chasing you?” Ron shook his head. “You know better than that.”

“Yes,” she said. “I know—now.”

He didn’t have to ask how she knew or what she was. Gently he ran his fingers through her soaking hair, touching the soft, horn-like protuberances high on her forehead, the betraying nodules of the telepath, and his hand trembled as he drew it away.

“You know?” he said, and swallowed with unfamiliar shame.

“You can’t help it,” she said softly. “None of us can help what we are or what we do. The blame lies there.” She pointed to where the dim glow of the suspended lights shone in the sky. “Our fathers,” she whispered, and bitterness weighed in her voice. “Are we to blame for, what we are?”

He didn’t answer, feeling again the burning rage and helpless anger at those who had so much and gave so little. They would kill him if they could, he knew that, they would smash his life and laugh as he writhed beneath their torture. They would do that and feel a glow of satisfaction at a thing well done, a warm, peculiarly human glow at dealing cruelty and death to a helpless creature. They would drink and laugh and praise each other, forgetting that they themselves were responsible for what he was, or if they remembered, wiping out the memory with stern, self-righteous justification.

They were human, weren’t they? They owned the world, didn’t they? Then kill and destroy everything the slightest bit different. Burn the telepath for the accidental that which could remake the shattered world. Rip apart the distorted creatures with extra limbs or misplaced organs. Hang those with eidetic memory, shoot those with precognition, stab the beings with two hearts, six fingers, the ability to heal by touch or an instinctive awareness of the workings of the human brain. Torture the creatures who were starving and who ate dead flesh, and drive a stake through the hearts of those with mutated stomachs who found it impossible to absorb other than a specific liquid nourishment.

Kill! Kill; Kill until the human race breeds true again and the blasted genes and chromosomes are with the thing that caused them—a sickening memory of the past.

But the mutants didn’t want to be killed.

“Could it be done, Ron?” She stared at him aware, without the necessity of words, of what was in his mind. He sighed.

“I don’t know. Call it a dream, perhaps, an idle fancy, but how long can we last as we are?”

“Some of us will live,” she said. “Those that manage to cross the line.”

“Is that what you tried to do?”

“Yes.” She swallowed and he caught the impact of her mental pain. “My mother and I managed to live in the town. We did dressmaking, sewing, anything, and for a long while we managed to hide the fact that we were—different.”

“Your mother?” He stared at her, realizing for the first time just how young she was.

“Yes. We lived quietly until that man—” She bit her lips. “He was drunk, spoiling for trouble or a woman, and he chose us. I knew what he wanted, of course, and so did mother and she tried to save us. Somehow he guessed, it’s hard not to act naturally with them, and he—” She shuddered and instinctively Ron slipped his arm about her shoulders. “Mother got between us and warned me to run.”

“I know the rest,” he said harshly. “Three shots for killing when one would have been enough, then two more fired by hate and detestation. Human!” He made the word sound like a curse.

“What can we do, Ron?”

“There’s only one thing we can do,” he said grimly. “They almost caught me tonight and each time I have to—” He swallowed. “Each time the danger increases. One day my luck will run out, or they will decide on a clean-up of the ruins, or maybe they will go back to identification tattoos, anything. We’re on the losing side unless we get together and do something about it.”

“Could we?”

“Why not? I’ve a gun now, and cartridges for it. With money I can buy more. Then we can get together, leave this area, go somewhere remote where we won’t be bothered.” He touched her arm. “We could marry, have children, teach them and build a new civilization. Even though’ it doesn’t know it, or won’t admit it, the human race is dying out. The mutants will take over merely because more mutants will be born than normals. If we had somewhere safe for them to grow up in—” He gripped her shoulders. “We’re more intelligent than they are. Look at the way they use captured slaves to drag their carts, when a slight adaptation of the Zamboni piles would give them all the power they need. Even I know that, and others of us must know more. We could do it!”

“We could try,” she said evenly, and stared at him. “How about you? Must you have—”

“Animals will serve,” he said harshly. “But where are the animals?”

“We could each give a little,” she said thoughtfully. There isn’t really a problem there at all.” Hope lit her eyes. “Ron! Are you serious?”

“Why ask?” he said gently. “Can’t you tell?”

“Yes,” she said happily. “Yes. I can tell.”

For a long time they sat in the darkness and now the pains within him seemed more bearable than ever before. Now he had something to complete his life and, without asking, he knew that she was his. Someone to share the lonely hours, to comfort and help, to warm and cherish. A soft and vibrant woman to help meet the future, a woman who would, perhaps, mother the beginnings of a new race.

But first they needed money.

Money for weapons, for guns and ammunition, for tools and thick clothing. Money to ease their passage and to buy the things the new community would need. Some things they could find, others take, but money could obtain the crude instruments, the rare metals and the essential Geiger counters still to be found and bought. They had to have money.

“Gambling,” she said. “They gamble in the taverns; one of the games is guessing which is the highest of three cards.” She smiled. “Naturally they cheat, the dealer knows which will win, but I’m a telepath.”

“So you could read his mind and tell me how to bet!” Ron counted the few coins in his pockets. “We could do it. It would be risky, of course, but if we don’t win too much at a time we could do it.” He held out the captured pistol. “Here. Take this, hide it under your dress and use it if you have to.” He rose and gripped her shoulders

“You’re staying with me now,” he said. “I have a cave in the ruins, not much but it will do until we move.” He kissed her.

“Yes?”

“Of course—until we move.”

Together they moved towards the distant lights.

Late as it was the main street still resounded to the sounds of a frenzied, almost desperate amusement. Men and women eddied through the open doors of the taverns, and the spring jukebox still tried to emulate what passed for music. Above the laughter and discordant jazz the sound of clinking glasses and shuffling feet mingled with the drone from the tables, where smoothed faced men watched their customers lose, and lose, and keep on losing. All the play was in coins, no paper money had survived the effects of heat and time, rats and constant handling. Copper, some silver and a little gold made up the coinage and the players bet as much as they wished.

Ron slumped in a vacant chair, the girl standing just behind him, and tensed himself as the old, familiar fear began to tear at his guts. He would pass, he knew that. Despite his rags of clothing, his deathly pale skin and soaking wet condition, he could pass. He bore no outward signs of his inward difference and humanity had long ago lost all respect for outward conventions.

The game was a simple one, three cards, one an ace, flipped and placed by expert fingers, the trick being to find the ace.

“Come on, gents,” droned the gambler. “Even money bets. The more you put down the more you pick up.” The cards flashed between his fingers, the ace showing for a moment as it fell.

“I’ll take that one.” A burly carter placed a heap of copper opposite his card.

“And me.”

“Me too.”

A little heap of coins grew against one of the cards. Ron tensed as he felt a finger press against his right shoulder blade.

“I’ll take that one.” He spilled a few silver coins on the stained table.

“Any more players?” The gambler stared around the circle. “No?” He flipped over the cards. “The gent wins.”

Ron scooped up the doubled heap of silver and waited for the next play. Again the signaling pressure, this time between his shoulders. He bet on the center card—and won. He bet on the left hand card—and won. The center card again, and again he picked up silver. Then he lost, twice in a row, then won again, fighting the desire to double his money each play.

To do that would be worse than stupid. It would be suicide, which was why he had deliberately lost twice in a row. Even as it was the gambler stared at him through narrowed eyes and an invisible tension seemed to build up around the table. Ron swallowed as he felt it, knowing that men who won too often had a habit of being found dead and penniless the next dawn. Deliberately he lost again, ignoring the guiding pressure against his back, sighing with relief as he felt the tension lessen. He won the next and rose from the table.

“Going?” The gambler stared at him as he poised the cards.

“For a drink.” Ron jerked his head towards the bar. “I’ll be back.”

The bar was a splintered length of salvaged wood, mottled and ringed with the stains of countless glasses. Ron ordered drinks, lifting the thick, hand-made glass and wrinkling his nose at the odor of the rotgut it contained. It smelled of potato and cabbage, of peelings and garbage, but it was alcohol and strong and it served to ease the inward pain. He gulped the drink, then that of the girl resting untouched on the counter.

“I understand,” she whispered. “Outside?”

“Yes.”

“Will you win some more?”

“Not here. We’ve won too much as it is. Some other place.”

“Of course.” She shivered. “I’m afraid. There’s danger here. I wish.…”

“You wish what?”

“Nothing.”

“Yes, there is. What’s worrying you?” He stared at her. “Tell me.”

She didn’t answer and he felt the stirrings of impatient anger. “I can’t read your mind,” he whispered harshly. “I can’t guess what you’re thinking. What’s wrong?”

“It’s these people.” She bit her lip as she looked at the sweat-stained, hard-eyed, hard-faced crowd. “Their thoughts, they sicken me, like beasts or things worse than beasts.” She gripped his arm. “Let’s go now. We don’t belong here. Let them keep their money. There must be some other way.”

For a moment he hesitated, feeling the coins in his pocket, knowing that she spoke sense but knowing too that without money he wouldn’t be able to obtain the rotgut that could ease the pains so much. With her help he would be able to win and win and win again. It was so easy, even taking the necessary care he could win enough to buy what he needed.

“Ron!” He thinned his lips as he remembered that she could read his mind. “I’m afraid! Let’s go now. Please.”

“I’ll look after you,” he muttered. “You’re safe with me.”

“Please, Ron.”

He nodded, turning reluctantly from the bar, thrusting his way through the crowd as he followed her towards the door. Outside it was dark and wet and cold with the thin wind blowing from the north. Here it was warm and gay and comfortable. He thought of his cave, the lair in the rubble, soaking with filtering rain and bleak with loneliness. He thought of the woman, of her warmth and understanding, and for a moment felt quick shame at his selfishness.

A man grabbed at his arm.

“You! I’ve been looking for you. Where’s Sam?”

“Sam?” He blinked at glittering eyes and a stubbled chin. Memory returned as he stared at the man and with memory came a quick and searing terror. “Luke!”

“Yeah. So you know me. Where’s Sam?”

“I lost him.” Ron shivered to the cold sweat of fear. “We parted in the ruins, I tried to find him but it was too dark.”’

“So you left him.” Luke bared broken teeth in a snarl. “I found him. I know where he is, lying out there with his throat slashed and his head caved in. You did that, Mutie.”

“I’m no Mutie.”

“No? Then that’s just too damn’ bad—for you.”

“Wait!” Sweat oozed in great beads from his pallid skin and his stomach seemed to shrivel as he stared at the ring of accusing faces. “You examined me. You know I’m human.”

“Sam’s dead. That’s enough for me.”

“He won at the tables,” offered a man. “Kept on winning. Seemed funny to me.”

“Get the tar,” yelled a man at the rear of the crowd. “Tar and a rope. We’ll burn him as a warning to the rest.”

“Skin him!” screamed a woman. “Cut his eyes out!”

“Kick the swine to death!”

“Soak him in oil and set him alight!”

“Rip his guts out!”

One after the other they yelled their suggestions, their eyes lazed and their mouths slack with anticipation.

“No!” Ron cowered from what he saw. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it I tell you!”

“It’s lying,” snapped a man. “What you waiting for, Luke?” He thrust forward, hooked fingers outstretched.

“Wait! I know who did it,” he gasped desperately. “I followed her. She’s the Mutie, not me.” He didn’t stop to think of what he was saying. All he could see was the ring of animal-faces, the naked hate, the gloating anticipation of what was to come Fear clawed at him, panic, sick desperation and utter terror. “She’s to blame I tell you. You can’t hurt me for what she did.”

“She?”

“The one that got away. Remember?”

“Yeah.” Luke sucked at his teeth. “A bitch. I remember.” He narrowed his eyes. “You lying?”

“No. I swear it!”

“He came in with a woman,” said the gambler. “They drank together.”

“I was playing up to her, trying to make sure and hoping that I’d meet up with you.” Ron gulped air into his burning lungs. “She’s got away by now, but I can find her. I spotted her lair.”

“No need for that.” Luke turned and jerked his head at someone at the rear of the crowd. “Fetch her here.”

She stood before them, very young in her damp dress, with her long hair streaming to her shoulders and her eyes twin pools of enigmatic darkness. Silently she stared at him, standing very straight and proud, and he writhed to the knowledge of what he must appear to be.

“She looks all right to me,” said a man dubiously. “I still think he’s lying.”

“Sure he’s lying,” growled a man. “I’ve seen this girl before.” He spat. “A damn’ Mutie will do anything to save its hide. Get it over with, Luke.”

For a moment he was tempted. It would be so easy to save her, to admit what he was and let her go free. But if he did that they would kill him. They would gloat over his agony. They.…

“Search her,” he screamed. “Search her.”

They found the gun first, the weapon he had taken from Sam and given her for her protection. It was all they needed and Luke grinned as he probed at her skull.

“By God, he was right! We’ve caught a bitch, boys!”

“Yes,” she said calmly, and her eyes were steady as she stared at Ron. “We cannot help what we are.”

“But you can pay for it,” snarled a man.

Outside it was still raining, a soft, cleansing rain from above, filling the night with gentle murmurs and kind, innocent sounds. Ron walked among the ruins, almost running in his haste, but still he couldn’t move fast enough to miss the screams, the yells, the baying bloodlust and the final, merciful shot from the tavern.

Silence came then, the velvet silence of nature trying to undo what had been done, but no peace came with the silence, and he knew that for him peace would never come again.

The cave was as he had left it and he crawled between water soaked brick and oozing concrete to what he called home. Tiredly he threw down the knife and club, the money and cartridges, and throwing himself on the bed stared dully into darkness that to him was not darkness at all.

He felt empty, too dulled for thought, for regret, for idle dreams of what might have been. Tonight it had been her, tomorrow it could be him, and if not then some other night when hunger drove him to mingle with men.

Dully he stared at the thin trickles of seeping rain, washing over the mildewed stone and rusted iron.

He stared at the club and the knife, tools of his trade, and he stared at the scattered coins won with a woman’s help.

All thirty of them.

THE GREATER IDEAL, by E. C. Tubb

On Earth the statue is of bronze, gigantic, imposing, a true work of art. On Mars it is of sandstone polished to an incredible smoothness while the one on Venus was carved from a solid block of crystolite. The materials, like the size, do not matter.

Whether it is of bronze, sandstone or crystolite, the planetary monument—or one of the countless smaller ones made from every imaginable material and set in towns and villages, hung against walls or set in medallions—the image is the same. That of a man, arms extended in welcome, head tilted as if to stare at the stars, a smile on his face and his thin, aesthetic features set in resolute determination. There is an inscription, a simple thing but of six words:

HE MADE US WHAT WE ARE

There are those who insist that it is not a true likeness, that the eyes should have been covered by the old-fashioned spectacles he wore. But it is hard to portray spectacles in sculpture, invariably they hide the eyes behind blank windows and the eyes are very important.

For it was the eyes of Michael Denninson which first saw the Houmi.

* * * *

The ship was a leaking old freighter beating around the fifth decant in search of the rich minerals of the Asteroids. It was common of its type, a metal can mostly cargo space, the rest loaded with stores and supplies, some mining tools and explosives, the whole powered by an erratic atomic engine.

Michael Denninson was the astrogator and one half of the crew. He was a tall man with weak eyes and girlishly slim. Physically he was not strong but, in space, animal strength is not important. He was strong where it counted most and his brain and skill governed the ship. Holden was the captain, a dour, grizzled veteran who drank often and slept much. He was asleep when Michael first caught the flash of reflected sunlight. He awoke as the rockets kicked to life.

“What is it?”

“Something bright at two o’clock.” Denninson pointed at the telescreen. “See it?”

Holden grunted, rubbing his chin. He stepped up the magnification of the screen as the flash was repeated and swore at what he saw.

“Metal. That thing’s a ship.”

“That’s what I thought.” Michael adjusted the controls and, in the screen, the flashing object moved to a point directly ahead. “Salvage?”

“Could be.” Holden was eager now. Salvage was always profitable even though it was nothing but twisted metal. Such metal would be refined and be worth more than any of the common ores. And there might be other pickings. “Better try them on the radio,” he suggested. “They might still be alive in there.”

The radio brought no reply and neither of them had really expected any. A ship, twisting out of control among the Asteroids, could only be a ship that had been abandoned. The risk of collision with a hunk of cosmic debris was too great for any crew to have willingly run. They would have abandoned ship long ago.

As they came closer Michael caught the first hint of something unusual.

“Odd shape,” he mused. “Do you recognize it?”

Holden didn’t. The vessel was a polyhedron and outside of his experience. Most ships were dumb-bell or torpedo shaped or, as in their own case, a series of spheres united by external struts.

“An experimental job, perhaps?” His eagerness increased as he thought about it. “And no signs of external damage. We’re in luck.”

“Maybe.” Michael was working at the controls. “I’ll try them with visual. Their radio could be wrecked but, if there’s anyone alive in there, they’ll see our signals.”

From a point on their hull a low-powered rocket streamed a trail of fire, exploded in a flaming gush of brilliance, hung glowing in the void for a long moment and then faded in an expanding cloud of luminescence. Again Michael repeated the signal, a third time, then Holden released his breath in a sigh of regret.

From a point on the polyhedral hull a winking glow replied to their signal.

The ship still held life.

What followed was routine and a perfect example of Michael’s skill He played the jets until they had matched both velocity, and revolution, coupled the contact tube to a dark spot that had yawned on the strange hull and flooded it with air. Together, without suits, without weapons, with no thought than that of offering aid to their own kind, the two men entered the other ship.

And met the Houmi.

The meeting was momentous, though at first it didn’t appear so. The mind cannot grasp more than a little at a time. First there was the strangeness the thrill of meeting, for the first time in recorded history another intelligent race

Then there were the questions, the million unanswerable questions, which had to be left for sheer lack of communication. And, finally, there was the problem of what had to be done.

“Aliens.” Holden shook his head at the wonder of it. Both he and Michael had returned to their own vessel. “Who’d have thought it?”

“Humanoid,” said Michael. “Man-like in almost every respect.” He moved restlessly about the control room. “Do you realize what this means, Holden? Can you grasp it?”

“I think so.” Holden was a realist, a practical man undisturbed by self-doubts and self-questioning. “We’ve bumped into something really big. I wonder where they came from?”

“I’ll find out,” promised Michael. “I’ll find out many things.” His eyes behind their spectacles, gleamed with vision.

“Think of it, Holden. They have come from outside the system, from another star. Their technology must be far higher than our own.”

“How can you know that?”

“They are too much like us to have come from within the system. They breathe the same air, have the same eye-structure, and their ears are pointed but much like our own.” He nodded as though it was already settled as a fact. “Different, of course, but no more different than a black man is from a white man, I’d be willing to bet that they could live comfortably on Earth.”

“I see what you mean.” Holden was thoughtful. “They must have some form of an interstellar drive.” He stared at the astrogator. “We must get that drive.”

“We must help them to repair their ship.”

“The drive comes first.” Holden sucked in his lips. “Think of it, Michael! With an invention like that we could be rich.”

“Money!” The way Michael said it made it sound like an insult. “Is that all you can think of?”

“No.” Holden didn’t take offence. He had argued with Michael before and neither of them had ever reached an agreement. Denninson was a peculiar man, which was why he and Holden could operate successfully as a two-man crew. He was much given to reading; old books written by people long dead and spent long hours staring at the majesty of the universe. He was an idealist, a fact Holden knew. That he was also a fanatic was something the captain had yet to find out.

“Look,” he said patiently. “What have we? A strange ship from somewhere outside. Luckily for us it has been damaged and, luckier still, we found it before it crashed on the rocks. So that makes it ours to do with as we like. Agreed?”

“No.” Michael was definite. “This ship isn’t salvage.”

“I’m not talking about salvage,” said Holden. “I’m talking about common sense. We need that interstellar drive, they have it, we have them. Simple.”

“You talk like a savage,” said Michael. “These people aren’t primitives to be exploited. If we take their ship and drive we will be worse than thieves. We will have stranded them far from home.” He paced the floor again, his magnetic boots sending dull echoes from the hull. “And what if we do get the drive, what then?”

“We’ll go out to the stars,” said Holden simply. “What else?”

“And land on new worlds and give birth to more copies of Earth.” Michael shook his head. “It will be the same old story but this time played on a greater scale. The explorers first, then the merchants, then the armies and another race, another people subjugated beneath our heel. It happened the black man. It happened to the red man. It has happened with monotonous regularity all through our history. Do you think that men will change overnight just because they have a new toy?”

“We need the drive,” said Holden stubbornly. “Words can’t alter that. We need it and we’re going to take it.”

“No!” It was almost a shout. Michael realized it and lowered his voice. “Listen,” he said urgently, “and try to understand. We’ll get the drive, yes, but not by stealing it. We’ll receive it as a gift from the Houmi. They’ll give us the drive and all the other secrets of their technology because they will want to. We will be their friends, their brothers in space, and together we will share all that we own.” His eyes were gleaming as he thought about it. “A new start, Holden. Another race to teach and guide us and lead us from the slime from which we sprang. Is it worth losing the greater ideal for the sake of a petty theft?”

Holden didn’t answer. He sat, his head lowered, staring at the deck plates beneath his feet. He was thinking, not of the greater ideal expounded by the astrogator, but of things of more immediate moment. He was thinking of his life and the poverty that had been his and the riches waiting for him if he were strong enough and brave enough to take them. Michael was an idealist, he knew that, and privately considered the other man a fool. And yet he was a clever fool. He lifted his head.

“Talk,” he said. “Nice talk, but talk just the same. How do you know how the Houmi will feel about this hand-in-hand stuff? They may not want to help us and we may not want to mingle with them. Just because they look human doesn’t mean that they are human.” He sucked in his breath. “They are alien, never forget that. More alien than bees are to men. Do we ask the permission of a bee before we take its honey?”

“Sophistry,” said Michael impatiently “Backwoods logic. You should know better.”

“Maybe I do know better.” Holden was annoyed. He did not like being spoken to as a fool. “So we fix their ship and wave them goodbye and then what? Maybe they’ll never come back or maybe they’ll come back in force. Either way we’ve lost.” He rose to his feet. “Mix with them, yes, but on equal terms. You say that they’ll act like humans, all right. I know humans and how they act, not from books but from life. The strong respect the strong. Both despise the weak.” He reached out towards the radio.

“What are you doing?” Michael’s voice was high-pitched, strained.

“This thing is too big for us.” Holden tripped a switch. “I’m going to call up some help.”

“And then?”

“Then we’ll do things my way. We’ll take the drive and anything else we can find. Later, when we’ve built interstellar ships of our own, we may go visiting. Or we may not.”

“And the Houmi?”

Holden shrugged.

* * * *

Michael was an idealist and a fanatic and so was far more dangerous than Holden had suspected. His dream had been nurtured by old philosophies and forgotten injustices and, in the face of the greater ideal, nothing could be permitted to stand in his way. Nothing. Not even Holden’s life. He was regretful but determined.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I had to do it.”

“You almost cracked my skull.” Holden tugged at his bonds and stared at the other man. “How long have I been out?”

“A long time.” Michael hesitated. “I had to drug you after I stopped you using the radio. Then the repairs took longer than I thought. They are all finished now though.” He stared at a point above Holden’s head. “You were quite wrong about them, you know. I’ve learned a little of their language and they’re quite sincere. They want to see Earth, I’m traveling with them as a kind of ambassador, and they promise to return.”

“And me?”

“I’m sorry.” Michael lowered his eyes. “You’ll have to stay here.”

“Tied? Like this?” Holden strained at his bonds then relaxed. “That’s murder,” he said quietly. “Is that what you want?”

“I don’t trust you.”

“What’s trust got to do with it?” Holden was frightened now; Michael meant exactly what he said. “What harm can I do? You’ve had your own way, the Houmi’s ship has been repaired, what more do you want?”

Michael didn’t answer.

“You’re frightened that I’ll upset your plans, is that it?” Holden laughed, a short sound without humor. “Well, maybe I’d try if I could. But what damage can I do now?” He began to sweat. “At least you could cut me free and leave me the ship.”

“The ship isn’t space-worthy,” said Michael. “I had to use most of the parts for the repairs and I’ll need the radio, of course, the Houmi don’t use our type of communication. I’m sorry.”

“You’re going to lie,” said Holden with sudden understanding. “You’re going to tell them that the Houmi rescued you from a wrecked ship. You’re going to say that because you want us to be friendly towards them and you think that lie will help things along.” He sneered. “Crazy logic! They helped us, therefore they must be friends, therefore we must be friendly towards them. Lies! All lies!”

Michael rose to his feet.

“You fool!” screamed Holden. “You blind, stupid fool! Don’t you know that you’re selling out your own race?”

Michael stepped towards the door. He spoke once before he left Holden to his fate. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish that you could understand.”

“Go to hell,” said Holden, and turned his face to the wall.

* * * *

Michael Denninson did not go to hell, not then, though he may have done later when he died by his own hand. He went to Earth with his friends the Houmi where, partly because of his lie, they were made welcome. They gave us some of their secrets, little things of no real value but, we thought a promise of what was to come. That was all they gave us, toys and the assurance that they would return. A promise that they kept only too well.

The Houmi look almost human but they are not human and. what is worse, they do not regard us as human. Human, that is, by their own standards. And yet they have a wry sense of humor. It was they who insisted on the statues immortalizing Michael Denninson, the most hated man in the entire history of the human race. It was they who permitted the inscription and in this they reveal their lack of irony. Or perhaps they just don’t care. For as every schoolchild knows the inscription, as it stands, is true but indefinite. It lacks a hyphen and one other word.

—SLAVES

YOU GO, by E. C. Tubb

Herman came into the office beating his hands together and shivering with cold.

“Women!” he said. “Five gallons, a pint of oil and would I check the tires and battery.” He snorted. “Tires I don’t mind, but couldn’t she have left the battery until daylight?”

“Service,” said Onslow. “Service with a smile. Tip?”

“Not on your life.” Herman held out his hands to the warmth of the stove. Together with Onslow, he formed the night staff of the Acme Garage. It was a pleasant enough job, with little to do in the small hours but sit in the office and wait for some stranded motorist to call for help or service the few cars traveling through the night. He nodded toward the paper Onslow was holding.

“Anything interesting?”

“Not much. A couple of holdups, a murder and some more disappearances.” Onslow riffled the paper, his thin face adorned with heavy spectacles intent as he read the column. “You ever think about that?”

“Holdups?” Warmed, Herman sat down and lit a cigarette. Physically, he was totally opposite Onslow, being big and florid where the other man was thin and pale. He gestured with his cigarette. “Places like this don’t get held up, not with the two of us. Those punks pick single-man stations to knock over.”

“Not holdups,” said Onslow. “Disappearances.” He folded the paper and leaned forward. “Did you know that every year 12,000 people vanish? I don’t mean they run away from their families or skip their jobs. They literally vanish.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”

“Must have a reason,” Herman said comfortably. He wasn’t much of a reader and was tired of the radio, so an argument with Onslow was as good a way to pass the time as any he could think of. Made something interesting to tell Mary over breakfast, too.

“No reason,” said Onslow. “No reason at all.”

Onslow warmed to his subject. “You wouldn’t think it possible in this civilization, what with social security, the police, the paperwork checking and registering of every individual, but it does. Men and women vanish and are never found again. It’s the truth.”

“I don’t doubt it,” chuckled Herman. “There have been times when I’ve felt like taking a long, one-way walk. Means nothing.”

“You don’t get it,” said Onslow. “I’m not talking about the people who have obviously decided to run away. People like that pack a bag, draw out their money from the bank, make some preparations before leaving. Most of them are easily found; all of them could be if anyone were interested enough. I’m talking about the mysteries, the people who vanish for no reason and without making any plans at all.” He shook his head. “Sometimes it worries me.”

“Maybe they were snapped up by something in a flying saucer?” Herman chuckled again; somehow, he couldn’t take Onslow’s statement seriously. He didn’t disbelieve it, for the thin man never lied, but he just couldn’t accept it He changedthe subject. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me last night. You know, that time-travel thing.”

“The paradox?” Onslow smiled. “Did you work it out?”

“I think so.” Herman frowned to stir up his memory; he and Mary had spent a couple of hours on the problem before he hit the sack. “If a man invents a time machine,” he said carefully, “and then goes back to kill his grandfather when a boy, then he couldn’t have been born, could he?”

“Hardly.”

“Then if he hadn’t been born, he couldn’t invent a time machine in the first place. But if he hadn’t invented it, he couldn’t have killed his grandfather, so he would have been born anyway.” Herman drew a deep breath. “So he didn’t kill his grandfather at all. Right?” He looked anxiously at the other man.

“Near enough.” Onslow knew better than to labor the point. “If he was born, then his grandfather couldn’t have been killed when a boy, so all that about going back and killing the old man doesn’t really enter into it.”

“That’s what I said,” lied Herman. “Mary kept trying to tie me in knots, but I made her see sense in the end.” He hesitated. “Got any more?”

“Paradoxes?” Onslow looked surprised. “Sure, if you’re interested.”

“I’m interested.” Herman glanced through the office windows. The night was a bad one, cold, wet, miserable, a night most people would choose to stay indoors. “May as well talk as read or listen to the radio. More interesting anyway.”

“How about this one?” Onslow helped himself to a cigarette and hunched closer to the stove. “An old Greek named Zeno dreamed it up and it’s a good one. Achilles was going to race a tortoise. The tortoise was placed halfway down a measured strip—it doesn’t matter how long—and Achilles stood at the starting line. You get the idea?”

“Sure, the tortoise was given a big start.”

“It was halfway down the strip,” said Onslow. “So the race started. Now before Achilles could catch up with the tortoise, he had to cover half the distance between them. Right?”

Herman frowned, then nodded. “Sure, of course. He had to reach the halfway mark between them.”

“Yes, but by the time he had reached that halfway mark the tortoise had moved on a bit further. So Achilles had to cover half that distance, by which time the tortoise had moved on still more. So Achilles had to cover half that distance and then half the next distance and so on.” Onslow leaned back. “How did Achilles ever catch up with the tortoise?”

“Uh?” Herman looked blank. “By running faster, of course. Nothing to it.”

“Isn’t there?” Onslow reached for paper and pencil. “Look at it this way.” He made swift sketches. “First he had to cover half the first distance, then half the second, then the third and all the rest. Look at it that way and he could never have caught up, because, no matter how short the distance, he had always to cover a half of it, by which time the tortoise had moved on.”

“I see,” said Herman glumly. This was one time when he couldn’t dazzle Mary with his superior knowledge. It wasn’t much good taking home a problem to which he didn’t know the answer.

Onslow took pity on him. “No one can really work it out the way it’s stated. They say that calculus can do it, but I wouldn’t know. The easy answer is that Achilles wasn’t racing to catch up with the tortoise at all; he was running to a point past the finishing line. That way, all he had to do was cover a series of decreasing halves of distance and so, naturally, he won hands down.”

“Sure,” said Herman, relieved. “The gimmick depends on which way you look at it.”

He glanced at his watch, then through the windows. A car came down the road, slowed and swung into the forecourt of the all-night restaurant a few hundred feet lower down. Onslow, who had headed toward the door when he heard the slowing car, grunted and busied himself at the stove instead.

Herman switched on the radio, listened to a disc jockey announcing the next record, then switched off with a grunt of disgust. “Got any more?”

“Paradoxes?” Onslow looked thoughtful. “Have you heard the one about the missing unit?”

“Tell me,” Herman invited.

“Three men go into a restaurant,” said Onslow. “The bill comes to thirty units and—”

“Units?”

“Dollars, pounds, rupees, it doesn’t matter what you call them.” Onslow lit a fresh cigarette. “The bill comes to thirty units—dollars, say. The manager, after the bill has been paid, finds that he’s overcharged by five dollars. He gives the five dollars to a waiter who, being dishonest, gives each of the three men one dollar each and pockets the two remaining.” Onslow flicked his cigarette. “Now, in effect, the men have each paid nine dollars for their meal. Three nines are twenty-seven. The waiter has kept two dollars. Twenty-seven and two make twenty-nine. Where is the other dollar?”

“Wait a minute!” Herman was frowning. His lips moved as he thought. “What’s the answer?”

“I don’t know.” Onslow sat down and leaned forward. “If you take the units—dollars—at each stage, you get the full amount. They handed the manager thirty dollars. He kept twenty-five and gave the waiter five, still thirty. The waiter gave the men one each, three, kept two, five, and the manager had the other twenty-five. Still thirty. But the men went into the restaurant with thirty dollars, ten each. They come out with one dollar each, so they must have spent twenty-seven between them. If they guessed the waiter was robbing them, all they could reclaim was two. So we still get twenty-nine instead of thirty.”

He stood up as a car swished into the forecourt before the pumps. “You think about it while I serve this customer,” he suggested.

The car was new and the customer felt toward it the same emotion that a mother has for her child. He insisted on Onslow’s inspecting the oil, demanded a different brand from a sealed can, watched the pump gauge with a suspicious eye, asked to have his tires and battery checked and then wanted his plugs tested. By the time Onslow had finished, he was blue with cold and in a frame of mind to regret the passing of the horse as a means of locomotion. Herman glanced up from where he sat, a sheet of paper before him and a frown creasing his forehead.

“I don’t get it,” he said plaintively.

“Nor me.” Onslow shivered as he warmed himself at the stove. “You’d think that a guy had better things to worry about than a heap of steel and rubber.” He rubbed his hands together. “Plug testing at three A.M.! They’ll be wanting a wash and polish next!

“Service,” said Herman maliciously. “Service with a smile. Tip?”

“Go to hell.”

“It’s warm there, from what they tell me,” said Herman mildly. He scowled down at his sheet of paper. “I’ve been working on what you said. I still can’t see it. If you count in the money the men have, then you get two dollars over; if not, one dollar less.”

“Twenty-seven they paid, three they have, two the waiter has.” Onslow nodded. “Thirty-two units instead of thirty. I told you it was a good one.”

Herman blinked. He was annoyed at his inability to solve the problem, a little tired and more than a little irritated. “Why use units? Why not plain ordinary dollars?”

“It would work in any currency,” said Onslow mildly. “The paradox I mean. Or with anything similar. People, for example.”

“People!” Herman crumpled the sheet of paper. “You serious?”

For answer, Onslow picked up his newspaper and opened it at the column dealing with the latest disappearances. He tapped it.

“Why not? People are units just the same as the mythical dollars we were talking about. If you can lose a dollar by passing it from hand to hand, why not a man or a woman?”

“Hand to hand,” said Herman shrewdly. “You don’t pass people around that way.”

“Maybe not, but they move just the same.” Onslow listened to the hum of an approaching car. It mounted, reached a peak, fell away as the car drove into the night. “People are on the move all the time, driving, walking, on the subways, in trains, airplanes, boats, all the tune moving from one place to another.” He picked up the newspaper and glanced at it. “Just like the dollars in the paradox.”

“You’re crazy!” Herman snorted. “It isn’t the same at all.”

“No?” Onslow shrugged. “Call a dollar a unit and call a man a unit and you have the same thing. Pass them around, one way and another, and they are still the same thing. And if a dollar can get lost in the shuffle, then why not a man?”

“Men don’t vanish like that,” protested Herman. He flinched as Onslow held out the newspaper. “They can’t.”

“But they do.” The thin man smiled and produced his cigarettes. He passed them to Herman, lit them, inhaled with quiet luxury. “I used to work in a lost and found office one time. You wouldn’t believe the things people lose. Umbrellas, briefcases, parcels, books, all kinds of things.”

“I’ve lost stuff myself,” said Herman. “Anyone can forget a parcel or a book.”

“Sure, but that isn’t all.” Onslow stared through the office window. “What about false teeth, artificial legs, artificial eyes, a pair of crutches, trusses, things like that? How can a man lose his false teeth? They aren’t something you carry around in your hand or loose in a pocket. The same with artificial legs or eyes. And not wrapped» remember—we used to get them handed in just as they were found.” He looked at Herman. “Have you ever seen a man walking around with an unwrapped artificial leg under his arm?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Of course you haven’t. And teeth—you wear false teeth, Herman. What do you do with them?”

“Keep them in my mouth. What else?”

“That’s what I mean. And yet you’d be surprised at the number of dentures handed in to every lost and found office every week.” Onslow shook his head. “It makes you wonder.”

“Not me, it doesn’t,” said Herman. “I don’t go for that sort of pipe-dream.”

Onslow thoughtfully turned back to the window and blew smoke against his reflection. “Twelve thousand a year. And that’s just in this country alone. No one knows how many people vanish all over the world. And people moving all the time. From one place to another and back again. From country to country, state to state, town to town, even from home to business. All moving—just like the dollars in the paradox.”

Herman didn’t answer. He was thinking of Mary’s younger brother, a serviceman who had gone to an overseas trouble spot. He’d been reported missing—not killed in action, not even believed to have been killed, just missing. Herman hadn’t thought it odd at the time, but now he couldn’t get it out of his mind.

“Maybe they shed their ‘bits’ when they vanish,” said Onslow reflectively. “A man gets lost in the shuffle and his teeth or spectacles or artificial leg just stays behind.”

“But where do they go?” Herman was still thinking of his missing brother-in-law.

“Where does the missing dollar go?” Onslow shrugged. “No one knows where they go. Maybe they’re still walking around somewhere, not knowing who they are. Or perhaps they just vanish, be as if they never were.” He dropped his butt and trod on it. “And it could happen at any time. You might leave for work and never get there, or start for home, or down the street and never arrive. You’d have made only one move too many or maybe just a move in the wrong direction. Who knows?”

“You’re kidding.” said Herman. “You made it all up just to pass the time, didn’t you?” He was a big man and irritated.

Onslow stared at him, then picked up the newspaper. “Sure” he said. “I just made it up.”

“Take a walk down the street and vanish!” Herman shook his head. “Crazy! But you made it all up, didn’t you?”

“That’s what I said.” Onslow glanced at his watch. It’s getting near dawn. How about coffee?”

Going down the road to the restaurant was a privilege Herman insisted on. Someone had to stand by the phone and pumps, so they couldn’t both go. Normally he was eager for the errand. This time, though, he didn’t move.

“You go,” he said.

SEA CHANGE, by Peter Oldale

It was not a pleasant catch. They hauled up on the tangled lines, bracing themselves against the surge of waves beating against the fishing boat’s bows. Once again, as they heaved, they saw it in the swirling waters, its dead fingers twisted, the torn ligaments bloody where the arm had once been attached to a body.

Big Norman gave a short of contemptuous disgust.

“Well, come on, man!” He grinned callously at the reluctant boy, wide-eyed beside him. “Heave the thing aboard—haven’t you ever seen a dead ’un yet?”

Using the long hook, he reached across with practiced skill and flipped the arm on board. It flopped wetly on the slimy deck and slithered to a halt. The boy shrank back, fingers flying to his mouth, but the big man stopped, wrinkling his nose, his coarse, handsome features coldly curious.

“Fresh as a bit of lamb,” he remarked. “Not been in long.” The boy gulped and Big Norman looked up with a sarcastic grin.

“Don’t just stand there. Shove it in the locker.”

“But—but I can’t—”

Norman laughed then, and took the thing up gingerly by one of its fingers. He hefted it, swinging it closer to the boy, who gave a cry of fear and shrank away. Then, satisfied, Norman lifted a hatch and slid the arm into a broad, empty locker.

They had no radio on board, or perhaps Big Norman might have reported the find, but then again, he might not. Whoever it was could never have survived the slashing that had torn an arm clean off. He had an idea what had happened. Some fool had slipped over the side of a biggish ship and been sucked into the propellers. There was no hurry.

As usual, his boat was solitary, miles from the main group of small craft from his village with their cheerful, obscene chatter and jovial, roughly generous comradeship. Urging the anxious, gaping lad, he rearranged the lines and nets, motoring gently along over the choppy swell. The weather was hot and sultry, the waves oily. The sky had a faint tinge of yellow and the sun peered through, a gathering halo.

Twenty minutes later, they found a torn human chest, the rib cage ripped asunder as if with a mighty ax, the swollen lungs within, bulbous and raw. The lines drew it inexorably to the boat. Big Norman swore angrily and reached out once again with the hook. He gave the human wreckage a shove with the steel tip, pushing it away this time bat the spike passed through the ribs and jammed. He cursed, wrestled a moment, then with a disgusted grunt, swung the load inboard.

“Open the locker, you stupid bastard!”

The boy, stumbling, flung himself across the boat and lifted the hatch. The mangled arm waited in the darkness. Norman dropped the hook and its burden with a smack against the hatch edge. The bloody mess dropped off and the boy, his anxious, ignorant face white, slammed the hatch shut.

Big Norman himself stood panting, the hook in his hand. A red jelly stain moved slowly down its tip. He gave a sudden shudder and swung the hook over the side, swishing it in the sea to clean off the sticky mess.

“Get the lines cleared,” he snarled, then hurried across the deck and into the tiny forward cabin. He fumbled open a box and drew out a bottle. He drank quickly and noisily, belched, shrugged, then returned to the lines.

It was an hour before they found the legs. These came together, still joined by a jagged twist of flesh, palely flickering under the water as if vainly trying to swim alongside. Big Norman couldn’t disentangle them from the mesh, though he beat and thrust, viciously stabbing at the gently waving limbs. He took his knife and sawed at the twisted ropes but the feet floated aside and as he slashed the cut rope ends they snaked round and caught again on an ankle.

Leaning over the boat side, struggling desperately, Norman at last turned a pale, enraged face up to the terrified boy.

“For God’s sake—heave the bloody things aboard!”

But the lad shook his head, eyes bulging with horror. He merely backed, and to placate Big Norman’s rage, lifted the hatch, ready.…

With a frenzied struggle, Big Norman wrenched at the load and lugged the dripping, shattered legs over the side. They slapped loudly on the slimy planks. He heaved again and bundled the legs over the hatch opening, forcing them inside. Within, the pale mess of chest and arm slithered aside under his thrust.

He slammed the hatch shut and stood up, swaying slightly, the bright yellow sun beating on his bare head. He closed his eyes for a moment, then stumbled forward to the cabin and the bottle. For a few delicious minutes, he sat down on the narrow bunk there. His head was hot. The sickly white legs had reminded him—there was even a blue-red oval bruise on the thigh, as if a boot had kicked it—but it was impossible! Helga was gone these two months, with her whining and her thin arms and her bulging belly. He drank again. A vision of Helga came—cowering—as she so often had; pleading, terrified.

Big Norman opened his eyes and drew a stronger breath as the neat spirit warmed him. It was a coincidence, of course. The bruise on the leg would have happened when she—whoever it was—fell overboard.

Stumbling out on deck, he cried oat to the idiot boy who stood clutching the wheel.

“Get the gear in, we’re going back.” He raised a brutal fist, eager to vent his angry fear. The lad jumped to obey, clumsily blundering with terrified anxiety to please. He began to unhitch and draw in the lines as Big Norman had taught him, with so many blows. The man ignored him, breathing heavily.

The nets came aboard. There were few fish, for the disturbance to the lines had spoiled their set. Big Norman spilled them out again, the cowering boy staring in amazement. Instead of carefully folding the tackle as usual, coiling down each line, the big man simply dragged it all aboard in a tangle. As the last lot floated up, Big Norman turned away and stooped over the engine hatch to start the small diesel. It clattered and roared, sending out a cloud of gray smoke. The boy gave a cry, and Norman turned to see him heaving on the last lines, straining. And then another arm, with almost the whole side of a body, down to a crushed and horribly torn abdomen came aboard, writhing as if alive.

Norman gave a great cry and rushed to stop the boy, but it was too late. The thing slopped to the deck and slid slowly and deliberately towards him. On the dead, twisted hand gleamed a dull gold ring. One finger of that hand was gone, but this wound was long healed. Norman’s face went gray with sudden horror, his eyes staring wildly at that familiar hand. He backed away, low animal sounds coming from his throat.

The boy was staring at him, desperately anxious to do the right thing, his dim brain moving slowly. Trembling, he stooped and lifted the hatch. With crazy haste then, he incontinently dragged at the dead flesh, and began to stuff the thing down into the locker.

Norman turned and blundered towards the wheel, jamming the boat into gear, shoving the throttle lever to full power. The boat quivered and thrust ahead. A rush of water gathered under her bows. Within the locker, as the boat surged and rolled, the human remains squelched and jostled each other, a rich smell of salt and blood filling the wet darkness.

As the seas became rougher with a rise in wind, that hatch cover unfastened, clicked and stirred, opening an inch as the bows lifted to a wave, then closing with a snap as they fell into the following trough.

Big Norman steered without a backward glance, his gray face running with sweat, his legs braced apart on the heaving deck, powerful hands clamped on the wheel. The clouds were thicker now, hurrying across a brazen sky. A gray squall of rain was approaching, white capping the tumbling seas ahead. The high-pitched whine of wind grew louder.

Suddenly the boy grasped his arm, shaking it, pointing astern. Big Norman snarled at him, cuffing the hand away, then turned to look. The hatch had pounded open, and an arm had again flopped over the side, swinging crazily with every movement, its pale fingers writhing.

With a mad roar, Norman rushed past the cowering lad. He grabbed the flailing arm and snatched open the hatch, ready to thrust the thing down again into the pale shifting mass of flesh within. The boy saw him press down, striving to close the hatch again, but then stiffening, head hunched, eyes bulging with sudden, stark terror. The big man gave a piercing shriek and beat savagely downwards into the locker, thudding his fist at the dead flesh beneath, struggling as if with a live thing, then crashing the hatch shut with demented strength and heaving his mighty weight on to it. He lay shuddering, his great hands shutting the steel catch tight. For an instant, he remained, quivering uncontrollably, face deathly white, eyes staring, the wide mouth slobbering fear. Then, in a shambling rush he came forward to the wheel, blindly slowing the boy from it just as the bows slewed before a mighty wave, white capped and roaring.

The wave broke just as the boat swung and a thunderous torrent of solid water smashed on deck, ripping at the forward cabin, crashing with torrential force around their legs, heeling the boat further, further, till the lee-gunwale foamed white water and the boat wallowed drunkenly. Seconds later the wave was past, but they were broadside on and a second breaker towered over them, rushing them to doom. With a yell, the man grabbed at a rail and clung fiercely. The boy was knocked flat and crushed against the bulwarks as tons of water thundered over. The boat backed in the surge, her stern rising high, higher yet, till the hatch cover broke open and the dead arm again flailed out.

Big Norman saw, and screamed, and let go his hold, frenziedly fighting his way back to that madly flapping arm. The boy saw him fall on the hatch, seeming to struggle with the dead flesh, shrieking, the body rising from the dark locker in a fierce embrace.

And then a final, giant wave bore them off, the man howling sobs into the sea and the corpse dancing beside him in the roaring waters.

The boy clung on, gibbering.

He was still there when they found him, and towed the boat to port.

* * * *

“Suicide then?” said the inspector.

“Yes sir, several witnesses saw her jump, but the skipper had no chance. Propeller caught her.”

“Well at least it was quick. Took the head clean off.”

“That’s right. The shock must have thrust the body down because it couldn’t be found. They searched for a bit but of course in the—er—circumstances there was no question of her still being alive.”

The inspector nodded abruptly. He had not much liked his inspection of that head in the mortuary. Her eyes had been open, her lips drawn back in a final, desperate agony. And he had to see it again, today.

“Well we’ve got the rest now. Funny coincidence her husband fishing her out. No wonder he lost control. He must have dropped overboard getting her in and then the tide brought them to shore together. Rather touching really.”

The sergeant pursed his lips. He was a local man.

“Maybe, sir, though I gather they weren’t exactly well suited. He knocked her about. She’d gone off a bit ago, pregnant. She probably did it because of him.”

The inspector shrugged, getting his papers together and then reaching for his hat.

“Well, if there had been anybody aboard but that retarded lad we might have got a clearer tale.”

Then he rose, collected big Norman’s cousin from the waiting room and went down again to the mortuary to identify formally the two bodies. The man was worst, after being smashed on the reef. He was bloated horribly, his coarse bulging face blue. The vicious rocks had ripped his flesh in awful, jagged rents, splitting his chest wide open and almost severing one arm. His belly was shattered.

But the woman looked much better. She was thin and pale, but her body, though bruised, was miraculously whole and unharmed. The mortuary attendants had done a good job. They had stitched the head back in place. Her staring eyes had been squeezed nearly shut.

And it was surely only in the inspector’s imagination that those ghastly, dead slit eyes were looking up at him and that those pallid lips were twisting slowly into a faint and satisfied smile.

BRIDES FOR MARS, by Eric C. Williams

3D photographs and talking medical certificates tell you next to nothing about the person with whom you have contracted marriage.

Miriam Chokewater, aged nineteen, burdened with an ugly name but moderately pretty to the eye, thin, just emerging from boneyness and pressing towards svelte; blonde, blue eyes, good teeth, in-growing toenail on left foot, vaccinated against Martian pelagia, bubonic and Styx pollen, blood group Al, twisted the photograph of Franco Parzetti, aged twenty-three, Martian pioneer farmer, etc. etc. She watched him take his two 3D paces for the hundredth time and wondered what he was really like, you know, deep in his soul. Was he gentle? Would he love her?

Franco had her colored image pinned to the curtain of his sleeping dome where the light wind caused Miriam to twist her torso first this way and then that, and he imagined for the hundredth time what it would be like to hold her under the thermosheet, and what they would talk about after (and in his less heated moments, whether she could cook Martian cactus).

The photograph told him fifty percent of what he wanted to know—she looked even-tempered, placid, but not particularly strong (though very often these thin girls were resilient). She looked as if she had a good pair of lungs which she would find a help in Mars’ still thin air—the terra-forming process begun in the previous century was still in its early stages and ongoing. She had a kissable mouth. What he couldn’t tell was whether she knew much about farming in sand; how she would stand up to being sealed in a dome for two or three weeks when the storms came; whether she scratched herself (he couldn’t stand people who scratched); whether she had BO (God! he hoped not); whether she could cook Italian-style; oh, and whether she would love him.

These two mortals were, at the moment, separated by a gulf of 63 million miles, but this gap was being reduced at the rate of ten miles per second. They were due to unite in contracted marriage in about 140 days if the voyage to Mars went well and if traveling conditions on Marr allowed passage to the great depression of Hellas when Miriam arrived.

Miriam, still in torment as to whether she had done the right thing in pledging herself to a photograph of someone sixty-three million miles away, sat on her bunk in the SS (Settler Ship) Mayburg along with 499 other Martian brides and spoke to her cabin mate Laura Krankovsky about the anguished reaction when her mother had learned of her loved daughter’s registration in the Pioneer Brigade.

“She cried for days. I felt awful. I’ve never hurt my mother in all my life and I thought she would be glad to see me married off, me being nineteen, but no! She said I’d done it just to get away from her and she cried and cried ’til I thought my heart would break.”

Laura Krakovski stared at Miriam without much sympathy or understanding. Her English was the rudimentary sort taught in the outlying districts of New Russia and she was due to be wedded to Ivan Zarkow, a Russian-speaking farmer in Coprates.

“Cry? Why cry?” she asked, her heavy brow beetling in puzzlement.

Miriam did not note the lack of comprehension. She sighed and went on with a voice quivering on the edge of tears.

“We loved one another so much; we never had secrets from each other. Ever since I was a little girl I used to tell her everything, and even after that when I grew up. And she used to tell me all her thoughts, just like a sister, really. We’d talk for hours together and laugh. Of course, I never knew my father, so we only had each other, you know, and that’s why she cried. She’d got nobody else. She said she’d die. I tried to get out of the Brigade—I pleaded with them but they wouldn’t let me.” Tears at last ran down her cheeks.

Laura watched them in puzzlement. “You no want go?” she asked tentatively. “You have bad man?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” sobbed Miriam. “Mother, mother…,” and could not proceed. Laura placed a thick arm across Miriam’s bowed shoulders, gathered her vocabulary and offered the following consolation “All mothers bitches. You happy now. Great big man, huh?”

Miriam shook her blonde head wildly, tore herself free from the restraining hawser and flung herself prone on the bunk. The photograph of Franco Parzetti fluttered to the floor carrying out quick two steps as he went. On the floor he stared up at Laura Krankovski’s baffled face. She shrugged, picked up the piece of plastic and put it in Miriam’s clenching hand. It crumpled (France Parzetti limped thereafter) and Miriam’s wailing became louder. Laura stood watching her with stolid thoughtfulness, then turned and pushed her way past the collection of women who had gathered outside the open cabin door. At the end of the corridor was the surgery and into this Laura went.

A moment later she came out behind Mary Elizabeth McPrince, chief medical officer, who was on duty at the time. McPrince shooed off all the onlookers, dismissed Krankovski to the common room, and shut herself in with Miriam. She pricked Miriam’s quivering bottom with a very sharp needle, and then asked her what ailed her.

Miriam turned and looked into McPrince’s matronly face, and in her emotional state and with a subtle drug seeping into her brain, immediately imprinted the McPrince face on her soul and henceforth the word ‘mother’ conjured to her the consoling face of Mary Elizabeth McPrince.

“Mother,” she choked, and buried her face in the soft bosom.

“Oh, come now, dear,” said the doctor. “You’ve got to do better than this: a big girl like you.”

“Take me back,” sobbed Miriam amongst the billows.

McPrince eased her tack gently. “You’ve got to be stronger than this, Miriam, Think of your husband waiting for you and try to be strong for him. He won’t want a silly girl all tears, will he? There’ll be a lot to do; no time to think about home on Earth. Mars will be home. Now don’t mope. Be a good girl. Find something to do. Do you go to the gymnasium? No? Well, do so. Go regularly, make friends with the girls, and keep fit and well so that when you meet your husband he will see you strong and lovely.”

Miriam looked into McPrince’s eyes with adoration. “Yes, oh yes,” she breathed, “I will.” She hesitated shyly. “May I come and talk to you now and again? Show you how strong I get?”

McPrince smiled a little thoughtfully and stood up out of the immediate aura of Miriam’s worship. “You keep busy—talk with the girls. Come and see me when your monthly check-up comes round. All right, dear?”

Miriam looked momentarily as if a cool wind had blown over her ardor, but then she smiled and nodded prettily.

McPrince departed briskly and went and sought out Captain Ronald Able in his cabin.

“The troops are getting restless,” she said after a brief kiss. “I think treatment should commence,”

“Right,” he said. “I’ll pass the word along.” He dismissed the subject and allowed more interesting things to mold his facial expression. “Got an hour to spare, you gorgeous thing?” He emphasized his meaning by clamping a hand around one of her wrists and pulling her into close contact. She turned her head a little but moved her body in another way.

“Why, Captain Able! How you do treat your subordinates!”

“Good, eh?” he mumbled into her ear, “Well.…”

* * * *

Two hours later the alarms went off all over the ship and smoke seeped out of the ventilators. Crew members rushed along corridors frantically blowing whistles and appealing for calm. Immediate panic ensued. Five hundred young women recalled those terrible tales of fire in space that form the staple part of youngsters’ reading diet in the year 2579. Death in one horrible form or another was inevitable: the passengers fled in all directions searching for a place where the smoke was thinner.

The metal corridors echoed shrilly with screams. Smoke in even thicker concentrations rolled from the ventilators. One or two bodies slumped to the carpet coughing piteously. Miriam, slowly recovering from the tranquilizer injected by ‘mother’ McPrince, found her emotions rising like a thermometer column from cool to hot. It gradually penetrated her mind that the smoke in her room could be linked to the screams outside the room. She sat up as her vague fears turned to alarm and at that moment the cabin door was thrown open and Laura Krankovski rushed in with a face of iron heroism. This shock was enough to transmute alarm into terror, and Miriam made the welkin ring.

They have a way in the remoter parts of New Russia of quelling panic, and Laura used it. Her fist caught Miriam under the ear and stopped the screams in one last ‘eeek’. Limp and half conscious, she was dragged from the bunk and pulled into the corridor, briefly propped against the wall and then hoisted up and over Laura’s shoulder. At a run, like a powerboat forcing a way up rapids Laura made her way aft.

She battled across the maelstrom of the common room, down to a lower level and in through a steel door yanked open as if it had been a gossamer curtain. Inside, the air was pure, and two engineers eating sandwiches looked up in consternation as the door slammed behind Laura.

“You can’t come in here!” shouted one.

“Laura!” exclaimed the other.

“Heinrich, I come,” confirmed Laura, “You no fire here.”

“Who’s that you’ve got there?” blustered the first man standing up. “You know nobody’s allowed in here.” And then to Heinrich: “Is this your Russian bird? Christ, we’ll be crucified if she’s found in here! Get her out before Li comes along. Go on, get her out.” He moved forward as if to implement his own order. Laura moved forward and he stopped.

“We stay ’til no fire,” said Laura, and laid her burden down on the floor. She straightened up and looked at Heinrich. “You kill fire,” she commanded. Heinrich looked at the other engineer then at the clock above the control board along one side of the room.

“Not yet,” he said. “Kill fire in four minutes. Sit down, Laura, and have a sandwich.”

Laura’s broad shoulders seemed to swell. “Heinrich, you go kill fire…now!”

“I can’t leave here, Laura,” appealed Heinrich. He approached her with his hands moving in soothing curves. “They’ll have the fire out soon. Be a good girl and go back to your cabin.”

“No,” said Laura forcibly. She grabbed him by the throat of his loose uniform. “You kill fire now or me love others.” He was too much of a gentleman to use his feet or knees against her and slowly his face grew purple as she constricted his throat.

“Hey!” said the other engineer.

“Gug,” said Heinrich. “Kill it, Joe. For Christ’s sake kill it!”

Joe dithered, looked at the clock, looked at Heinrich’s face, then ran to the control board and snapped off various switches.

“What the hell we tell Li?” he rattled, “We’re two minutes early.”

Laura was still strangling her lover trying to inspire him with the need to rush out and perform heroic deeds. She did not connect Joe’s actions with ‘killing’ the fire.

“Fire’s out,” gasped Heinrich in last extremity. Laura dragged him to the door and pulled it open with one hand. Outside, the last traces of smoke were being sucked back into the ventilators. The screams were now shrill cries of joyous relief. Laura kissed her lover’s mauve lips and released him to stagger where he willed. She went to where Miriam was beginning to make whimpering noises and lifted her head solicitously.

“Come, baby,” she cooed, and gently slapped Miriam’s cheek. Miriam struggled out of unconsciousness and then away from the buffeting. She spiraled up into Laura’s waiting arms, Her head felt as if it had been flattened in the recent past and was now undergoing re-inflation, Blindly she was led out of the engineers’ room, through corridors full of women expressing every emotion from joy to fury, to the surgery.

Mary McPrince was administering throat soothers to those who claimed they had nearly suffocated. Automatically, without bothering to enquire, she handed Miriam several lozenges.

“Mother, I nearly died,” wept Miriam, freed herself of Laura’s supporting arm, and collapsed over McPrince,

“I am not your mother,” said McPrince pushing her off, “Take your medicine. I’m very busy,”

“She fall. Hit ear,” explained Laura. “Sleep.”

McPrince surveyed the drooping Miriam.

“Oh? Let me look.” She turned Miriam’s head a trifle sharply and tears started from Miriam’s eyes. Without a word McPrince got a prophylactic gun and sprayed the bump. “Get some sleep. Let me know if any sickness develops. Off you go.”

Feeling as if the whole universe had forsaken her Miriam returned to her cabin with Laura and cried herself to sleep.

The following day Miriam tried to approach McPrince in the surgery on a non-medical matter and was severely repelled. The next day, almost desperate for lack of motherly solace, she went to McPrince’s private cabin and without knocking opened the door and stared within.

She was horrified and terrified to discover a scene between her new mother and Captain Ronald Able the like of which she had never seen before and which she would not have imagined the human body capable of performing. Both were unaware of her and she was able to close the door and totter back to her own bed before she collapsed amongst the wreckage of a world, Her new mother was depraved, cared nothing for her, loved another, was incapable of understanding pure love. There was no reason to go on living.

When the alarm bells began ringing on the third day she welcomed them as if they heralded angels of vengeance. Laura was out of the cabin playing chess in the common room. Miriam threw open the cabin door then reeled back as a three-foot high wall of cold water collapsed inward upon her. Overhead in the corridor water cascaded from the fire dampers like escaping monsoons. Shrieks could be heard dimly above the roar of moving water.

Miriam tripped over something in the water swirling round the room and fell loudly into the whirlpool. Like flotsam she circled the room and then out into the river coursing down the corridor. She had no spirit to fight, nor strength to stand upright in the rush of water that was traveling round the vessel in reverse direction to the permanent centrifugal motion giving gravity to the ship.

She went under, hit her head on a corner, and breathed in. It was nasty at first; it hurt, and enormous booming noises sounded in her ears. Then suddenly two claws gripped her hard and tore her loose from the comfortable womb. The hands threw her painfully on to a hard, flat surface and then began crushing her in and out so that water spurted from her and air that burned like acid rushed into her lungs.

“Oh. Oh,” she moaned, and the claws allowed her to turn over and look upwards into the face of her tormentor.

It was a beautiful face, young, sun burned, sensuously intense, set now in lines of concern for her. Bending close to her to hear her words, full lips not more than three inches from hers. Quite unable to resist the vision she raised herself three inches and pressed her wet lips to his. His hands so recently manipulating her back made convulsive clutches at her front, the shock of which forced air from her and broke the kiss.

“Oh, Oh,” breathed steward Tony Bellini, and remained transfixed six inches above her. Gently she removed his hands and swiveled herself so that she could sit up on the tabletop on which he had deposited her for his ministrations. He straightened and put a warm arm around her shoulders.

“You saved my life,” she whispered. “How can I thank you enough!”

“You already have,” he said hoarsely.

“Silly. I can never repay you.” She lowered her eyes and looked around. “Where has all the water gone?”

The flood was at this moment roaring down corridors on the other side of the ship like a freak tidal bore on the rubber flooring. Bellini seemed to awake.

“Quick,” he commanded. “Into my cabin. The wave will be back any second now.” His strong arm swept her from the table and together they ran across the dining hall to a door in one wall. Already the hollow roar of water pounding down the restricting tunnels of the corridors came to their ears. Even as they fell into the little cabin and slammed shut the airtight door the roar swept into the dining room and pummeled on their door. Miriam clung to Bellini. He gently bent her to the neat bunk and comforted her. The frenzy without (and within) rose to a climax and passed.

“Oh, my love!” he sighed. She stroked his damp hair and let her thoughts wander into more mundane channels. His body kept her warm: she was very comfortable. “Tony,” she said, “Where did all the water come from?”

His one free hand wandered over her like a sleepy puppy over its mother, “Eh?” he muttered into her ear.

She smiled to herself and repeated the question.

“The water tanks.”

She thought this over. “How do you know?”

“Captain’s orders. Always happens.” He was almost asleep,

“Silly. How can it always happen? Such a waste of water…and dangerous, too!”

“All goes back. Nothing to it. And I was there to save you, wasn’t I?” He roused. “You wont tell anyone, will you?” His face paled.

“Tell them?”

“About it being a put-up job.” He got up on one elbow and looked down directly into her eyes. “I’d be fed to the reactor if the Captain heard.”

Miriam studied him in disbelief. “You mean it? It was done deliberately?”

He nodded and twisted away to sit on the bunk edge. “You’ll be on restricted water from now on. There’ll be other things, too. It’s supposed to make you girls ready for Mars: you know, used to less water, cope with danger and to stop you moping on the journey.”

“Other things?” Miriam stared at his back with her brow frowning but her lips twitching in a half smile. “What sort of things, Tony?”

He jerked his shoulders, “There’ll be a three day power failure next week. For God’s sake don’t say anything to anyone You’re not supposed to know.” He began straightening his clothes and then the few items of furniture in the little room,

“I don’t believe you,” laughed Miriam. “You’re having a joke with me. Naughty boy!” She leapt from the bunk and planted a. vicious kiss on his flinching lips.

“Ha ha,” he agreed. “Yes, a joke.” He held her off. “Better get going. Never do to be found here together. The water will be gone now.”

He opened the door, and it was true, the rubber floor of the dining area was already clear and nearly dry. Hot air poured through the ship. A calm voice came over the public address:

The Captain’s apologies to passengers for any damage done to personal belongings by the accidental release of the water tanks. Please bring any articles requiring drying out to the main common room where third officer Bancroft will arrange for this to be done. The situation is now in hand. There must, however, be a strictly rationed use of water from now on and an announcement regarding this will be made as soon as we have been able to measure the amount saved.’

“There,” said Miriam at the open door. “An accident,”

“Yes,” agreed Bellini. “Yes, an accident. I was joking.”

She gave him another kiss then ran off to see if any of her personal things had got wet. Bellini ran off in the other direction to establish an alibi to cover his dereliction of duty.

* * * *

Five days later there was a power failure just as Miriam had made up her mind to search out Tony Bellini in an effort to repay further her debt to him. In the sudden blackness and immediate uproar she became disorientated, collided with a wall and hit her nose hard. She screamed along with the others. She felt the warm blood running down her upper lip into her mouth. Fury burst into her mind like a raging tiger leaping from an open cage door. Tony had not been joking. It was a dirty, deliberate act. The smoke, the flood, the five days of thirst, the blackness—all deliberate!

She shrieked: “Put ’em on! Put ’em on, you rotten beasts!” Then she made a great effort and steadied herself Carefully she turned and with one hand held before her, the other pinching her nose, she retraced her steps, and by sheer furious determination found her way to the surgery. Inside, Mary McPrince was waiting for the expected flood of bruises and abrasions with a portable fluorescent lamp burning on her desk.

She looked up as Miriam lurched in from blackness to light. Miriam leaned back against the door still holding her nose.

“You bitch!” she snapped. “You an’ your precious Cabtain Able! Put on the damn lights.”

“What are you talking about?” asked McPrince. “And what do you mean my ‘precious Captain Able’?”

“I saw you!” suddenly shrieked Miriam, releasing her nose. “You and him. You and him. In bed. Ha!” She could not continue, unable to express the disgust she felt because truly it was not disgust that motivated her but jealousy that her ‘mother’ could give herself to another.

“That’s none of your business,” declared McPrince with dignity. “And we can’t put on the power until the engines are repaired.”

“Lies!” shouted Miriam, “You arranged it: you and him. You’re waiting, aren’t you, for the broken bones? I know it all: the fire and the water and now no power, All faked. And what have you got arranged for us next while you and him roll about in bed? Well, you can forget it because I’m going to tell everybody what you’re doing. And they’ll kill you, mother! Damn you.…” Tears diluted the blood under her nose.

McPrince moved forward quickly and slapped Miriam on the cheek.

“Let me clean up your face, dear. You look an awful mess.” She took her hand and pulled her to the light. Miriam began sobbing. Expertly McPrince mopped her up and as deftly injected a quantity of tranquilizer. Miriam sat down in a chair and looked at the desk light in a daze. “Moooo,” she murmured.

McPrince looked at her and then turned to the intercom. “Julie,” she said. “I’ve got Miriam Chokewater in the surgery. She’ll need hospitalization. Can you come up here and help? I want to put her in the isolation bay until this crisis blows over. OK?” She turned round and stood watching Miriam.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to lock you up for a time, dear, until all the incidents are finished. Nurse Julie will look after you, but I’ll look in every day, Will you be a good girl?”

“Mmmm,” sighed Miriam, her eyes almost closed.

The surgery door opened and Julie Smith stepped in. Together the two women lifted Miriam on to a mobile bed, and after some consultation the body was wheeled off to the small isolation ward adjourning the surgery.

* * * *

The power remained off for three days, and the temperature plummeted. The crew, dressed in heavy suiting, moved about the passenger quarters with hand lamps, but the five hundred women passengers suffered with the cold because only a limited stock of extra bedding and clothing was available. Groups took to sleeping in one bed taking turns to be top layer. Meals were cold and there were no hot drinks any more. On the third day alcohol intended for the two-month distant Christmas celebration was issued and there was much maudlin misery as the cold meal was consumed. Tony Bellini, helping to distribute bottles to the tables, made discreet enquiries as to the whereabouts of Miriam Chokewater. None of the girls knew where she was but one of the cooks who knew Julie Smith was able to tell him that Miriam was incarcerated in the ship’s isolation bay under sedation.

“On sedation? Isolated?”

“That’s what Julie said. Maybe they’re afraid her swollen nose might blow up.” The cook giggled.

Bellini thought sickly: Miriam was in possession of forbidden knowledge and she was being held indefinitely where others were unable to see her. The two things had to be linked. It was he who had given Miriam the forbidden knowledge—therefore it was up to him to get hers out of her predicament. He began to form a typically youthful, wild plan to do it.

Miriam, in the meantime, had had a lot of quiet time to think about herself. Sedation had been discontinued after the first day, but she was confined by a locked door to the little isolation ward behind the surgery. A small, low voltage light was allowed her and an extra blanket for her bed, and there she was left alone except for a brief visit from Nurse Julie with cold meals and her ration of cold water.

McPrince visited her after the first day and explained concisely the reason why the planned ‘accidents’ were arranged and why their efficiency would be nullified if Miriam divulged the secret to others.

“When it is all finished you will be let out. I’m truly sorry, Miriam, to do this to you, but you do understand the importance of it, don’t you?”

Miriam stared at her in the dim light. There was no mother-love in her regard, only coolness born of introspection.

“And what about me? Is it important for me? You don’t care about me, do you? Your tricks won’t do anything for me, will they? But you don’t care about that so long as the rest get off on Mars properly conditioned. They’ll be used to the cold and no water, they’ll be brave, and used to dim light and I expect other things. But me, I’ll never accept these things because I know you tricked us and I hate you for it. If I get out of here I’ll tell everyone.”

McPrince stared at her in some uncertainty. It was not that she was afraid of the effect any revelations Miriam might make to the rest of the brides once the accidents were over. The strengthening of their moral fiber would already have been achieved and their body adaptation to Martian physical conditions well underway and not to be altered by words. What concerned her was Miriam’s future. To be a settler on Mars was unlike being a settler on Earth; there was no way back; no mules crossed space, no buses, no ships; all that got back to Earth was Martian moss packed in the rooms now occupied by the women.

It was useless to dream of returning to Earth. Anyone who yearned for home was doomed to a life of misery more hopeless than any prisoner in any isolated prison on Earth. If Miriam was put down on Mars believing she had been callously used as a pawn in some incomprehensible game she would pine away within the year for Earth and her mother.

Somehow her fiber had to be stiffened, her courage and confidence increased, her spirit made to look forward rather than backward. Physically she was being hardened whether she liked it or not, and after the next ‘accident’ she would be well on the way to being perfectly adapted to current Martian conditions, but no girl likes being molded in a laboratory experiment like a caged rat, changed permanently just for the privilege of grubbing a living with some sweaty male on Mars.

It had been realized that no ordinary girl would volunteer to go through the physical hardships involved for such a small reward, and after some trial and error the scheme of introducing the conditions by ‘accident’ was conceived. It both hardened the girls to the harsh physical conditions and also made them able to face up to crisis. Both were important, but on a world still only barely able to support terrestrials, crises were part of the daily diet and courage and steadiness as important as health. Miriam Chokewater had to have this stiffness of backbone. Medical officer McPrince went out and had a long discussion with Nurse Julie Smith.

* * * *

A weak power supply was restored after two weeks of cold and blackness. A few dim lights were allowed in the corridors and common rooms, none in the cabins, and meals and rationed drinks began to be warmed. It was announced that the long period without power had led to a small deviation in their flight plan and for some days they must hold themselves ready to respond as directed to alarm signals as there was a possibility of collision with the Perseides passing through this area.

At midnight on this same day Captain Able spoke over the intercom to his Chief Engineer, Li. “Hallo Li. You can begin vacation. Take it down slowly. I’ll be ready at 0700 hours Ship Time to hit my first Perseid. You know what to do then.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” said Li in mock Scottish.

Able was referring to the forthcoming ‘accident’ whereby the ship would suffer holing by a meteor and lose much of its air, Chief Engineer Li was preparing the ground for a fast reduction in air pressure by subtracting some air while the passengers slept thus making the final job easier for his compressors. By slow leakage thereafter atmospheric pressure would be reduced to 8 p.s.i, the current Martian pressure. All this compressed air would be fed back into the ship on the return journey,

At about 0500 hours following Captain Able’s directive to Li. Tony Bellini sidled along the dim corridors panting a little with the combined effects of fear and Li’s evacuation of air. He passed the surgery door, freezing momentarily as he heard a movement within, then he silently pressed onward to the next door and went like a shadow into the blackness behind the door.

It was a small room used to store soap, of which a great amount was used in the six months of the trip. Locking the door behind him he switched on a small lamp and examined the shelves on the right hand side. Quickly he began lifting the cartons of soap tablets and stacking them in front of the opposing plastic racks. When he had cleared an area about the size of a door he examined the fixing of the slats.

They were lightly spot fused to the cross supports, and a few sharp upward blows with his fist were enough to break the welds and free the shelves. With the wall now accessible Tony Bellini pressed his ear to it and listened with all the intentness his love engendered. Beyond the wall lay Miriam Chokewater in her sick bay bed, and beyond her the surgery itself with Mary McPrince on watch.

He heard nothing except the roaring of blood through his cold ear. A look at his wristwatch, and then carefully he unwrapped a small package of what looked like thin sticky string and began pressing it against the wall in the shape of a tall oblong. To the bottom corner of this oblong he connected a minute detonator and two wires, one of which he attached to his hand torch. He then built himself a shelter from full cartons and sat down to wait for 0700 hours when the first Perseid was due to hit the SS Mayburg.

Bellini’s simple (lovelorn) plan was to blow a hole in the dividing wall at the moment when Engineer Li’s contrived explosions were going off around the ship, and then to bound through the hole, snatch Miriam from her prison and rush her back to his cabin while all the confusion prevailed, He would look after her until the excitement had died down and no harm could be caused by Miriam disclosing what she knew about the ‘Perseids’. Then he would take her to Captain Able and ask him to marry them. Beyond that he could not see; a rosy mist blotted out everything.

His watch read 0700 hours. He switched off his torch and carefully connected the second wire to the other side of the thumb switch. When the first “BOOM” echoed through the ship he pressed the torch switch. A tremendous “CRACK” hit his ears and a hard fist slammed soap into his body. Everything seemed to fall on him.

When his senses recovered it was to see a faint light shining through the hole in the wall and to hear a loud screaming noise. He scrambled up and battled his way across piles of burst cartons to the hold. Further “BOOMS” showed Engineer Li to be in full swing. The screaming came from Miriam thrashing in the bed, and the light came from the surgery beyond, the connecting door of which hung drunkenly from one hinge. A jagged section of wall lay half way across the room. Almost at Bellini’s feet on the other side of the hole lay Chief Medical Officer Mary McPrince unconscious and obviously broken in one or two places.

“Dio!” breathed Bellini in real horror. He stepped over McPrince and then stood hesitating between the opposing calls of love and duty. Miriam saw him while drawing breath for fresh hysterics and scrambled along the bed and into his arms.

“Tony!” she screamed into his ear. “Save me.”

Love won.

“Through here,” he shouted, pivoted, and dragged her to the jagged hole. They tottered over the chaos of broken cartons and fell against the door. Holding Miriam’s lightly clad body on one hand he unlocked the door and pulled. It did not open. He released Miriam and used two hands. It did not move,

“Oh, Christi!” sobbed Bellini. “It is jammed. Quick—the surgery door.”

They scrambled back, stepped over McPrince’s body, and rushed hand in hand into the surgery, around the examination table, and over to the door. This, too, was immovable.

Tony Bellini hammered on the door in rage and then fell silent as he realized that by making too much noise he would draw attention to himself and so to his crime. He swung and looked at Miriam in perplexity.

“We’ve got to get out,” he told her forcibly, his tone suggesting Mirian had got him into this contretemps. She was looking at him wildly, her pretty face white and wet with her recent hysterical outburst.

“What about mother?” she whispered and looked back at the door of the sick bay. Then seeing his puzzlement she added: “Doctor McPrince.”

“Yes,” he said reluctantly. Then shrilly: “Christos! What was she doing there by the wall? Why wasn’t she asleep?”

“She had just woke me up. She had something to tell me.”

He was speechless with frustration. For a few moments he turned away and rattled at the door, but all doors on a spaceship are strong and airtight and if the wall they are mounted in becomes distorted they jam. Also there was quite a difference in air pressure inside the surgery to the lower pressure outside in the corridor and this helped to hold the door shut. They returned to the sickbay end looked down at the unconscious woman.

McPrince had a lacerated shoulder and back, and a broken arm where the section of wall had struck her as it flew past. She was concussed by the explosion and her right ear would be forever deaf. There was a big pool of blood expanding on the smooth floor. Bellini stood frozen by revulsion above the body but Miriam dropped to her knees and timidly tried to raise McPrince’s head and shoulders.

“Help me,” she gasped, and was nearly sick as she felt warm blood trickle over her fingers underneath the shoulder. Bellini grunted and stepped over and took hold of the good side.

“On the bed,” said Miriam, and with a gigantic effort they raised McPrince inert body from the floor and got her to the bed. They turned her over. Her whole back seemed a mass of scored flesh.

“Dio!” groaned Bellini and turned away. He made sick noises as he stood swaying at the foot of the bed. Tears dripped from Miriam’s eyes as she tenderly stripped away the blood soaked clothing, but she nevertheless managed to inject steel into her voice as she called him to assist her.

“Stop being a baby, Tony! Come and help me to get her clothes off.”

Reluctantly, loathing it, he came and they peeled the shredded cloth from the bloody flesh.

“Now go and find some bandages. I’ll wash her.”

He was more than willing to go into the other room to escape the horror of the blood and he rummaged vigorously through cupboards. She fetched a bowl of water from the basin in the sick bay and began mopping up McPrince’s back.

“Oh, you poor dear,” she murmured as McPrince groaned in her coma. Fresh tears dripped into the welling cuts. “And that poor broken arm! What shall we do with that?”

Bellini came back with an armful of assorted bandages, cotton squares, and an antiseptic spray. He dumped them alongside McPrince’s nude body and then retreated a step. His face looked sullen with revulsion and he averted his eyes as Miriam began spraying the back and fresh blood welled out of the cuts.

“Get some ointment,” said Miriam looking up suddenly.

“Don’t just stand there, Tony! She’ll die if we don’t help her. Get some ointment to put on her back to stop the bandages sticking.”

His face set into dark rebellion and momentarily he hesitated.

“Oh, let me!” snapped Miriam, and before he could retract his rebellion she had run into the surgery and began throwing open cabinet doors and rummaging through their contents. He turned his head and looked down coldly at the body on the bed.

What the hell could they do about that broken arm? The only thing to do was to hammer on the door until somebody outside heard and broke the door in and fetched Nurse Julie. She could mend the arm. He looked round for something weighty to use on the door.

What Bellini could not know, and this was most unfortunate, was that McPrince had planned with Nurse Julie and Captain Able to get Miriam in a situation of stress whereby McPrince would fake an accident to herself inside the surgery at the time of the Perseid explosions and Miriam would find herself in a locked surgery with an unconscious body. Nobody was to answer any calls for help and Miriam would have to fend for herself and a strangely ill McPrince over a period of two or three days without food or heat and with the surgery air pressure reduced over that time to simulate leakage into space. It was hoped Miriam would emerge sturdier in character from this ordeal, Accordingly, a second surgery had been set up elsewhere in the ship with Nurse Julie in charge, and all noise from the old surgery ignored.

Miriam hurried back with a jar of some white cream she had found just as Bellini had concluded his abortive search of the ward for a hammer and was about to move into the surgery itself.

“Where are you going?” she demanded frantically. “Don’t go now.” Her hair was wild, her face ugly with tears and fear.

“Got to make someone hear,” he blurted and pushed past her. “Must find something heavy.”

“But what about her?”

“You do it,” he called. He was already inspecting the mobile lamp standard to see whether part of it unscrewed.

“Oh…, muttered Miriam, then began clumsily spreading cream on one of the squares of cloth Bellini had brought. She laid it gingerly on the bare back feeling the pain that McPrince could not. Then she took one of the big rolls of bandage and after one helpless look in the direction of Bellini began passing the strip under and over McPrince’s body. From the surgery began a tremendous banging as Bellini attacked the door with a peculiar steel bar he had found in a cupboard.

After ten minutes Miriam had finished concealing those terrible cuts and rolled McPrince over, and outside the banging had diminished in frequency and amplitude.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” bawled Bellini, “Are you all deaf?” He hammered a few more strokes and then threw his ‘hammer’ down. He glared at the door, thinking: nobody passing along the corridor could have failed to hear the banging; even if it wasn’t on the usual passenger route it was certainly within the crews’ orbit and in these ‘accident’ exercises there was a lot of traffic along the corridor to build up the atmosphere of anxious activity and also conveying hysterical and bruised women to the surgery.

So why had no one come to the surgery? Surely, someone had fainted as the air pressure was pulled down. Could it be…? No. It would be too much of a coincidence if the ship had actually suffered holing by a meteor just at the time of the exercise and everybody was dead.

Bellini pressed his ear to the door. All he could hear was the sound of Miriam sniveling over her precious ‘mother’ in the other room.

“Shut up” he shouted. “I can’t hear anything.”

Miriam gave one last sniff and was silent. She quietly found her clothes and dressed then came to the ward door and watched him. He listened with maximum intensity, mouth open, eyes shut, but he could hear nothing outside.

“The engines are still going,” he announced. “But the funny thing is, there doesn’t seem to be anyone about.” They stared at each other.

“What does it mean?” asked Miriam “What does it mean?” asked Miriam.

“I don’t know.” He hesitated. “Could be there’s been an accident.”

She gave a hysterical, over-sarcastic laugh. “I know all about accidents! Now they’ve got a real one, have they?” She began to titter and would have gone on to scream only that a gasp and moan came from behind her. She ran back to the bed. McPrince stared up at her with a face transfixed in pain, afraid to move, almost white as the sheets she lay on.

“Don’t move!” cried Miriam, “You’re hurt.”

“I know,” breathed McPrince. Her eyes turned towards her broken arm but she did not move her head. “My arm. What happened?” Her voice was little more than a sigh as if she hardly dared fill her lungs. “Oh…my back!”

“There was an explosion,” said Miriam, her voice was very high-pitched, squeaky. Her hands came up to her throat and clenched there as she stared down at McPrince. “What can we do for you? Oh, mother, your arm is broken!” She broke into more tears.

McPrince closed her eyes and then said: “You can stop calling me mother, for a start.” She rested and then whispered: “I can’t hear very well.” Another pause. “You said ‘we’…is there…?”

“The steward—Tony Bellini—was here when it happened,” said Miriam.

McPrince opened her eyes and looked blankly at Miriam. “I’m cold. Cover me. Shock.” She closed her eyes again. “Thirsty.”

Miriam whirled away into the surgery, Bellini looked up from where he was sitting with his back to the corridor door,

“Find some blankets quickly; she’s cold. It’s shock.” She, herself, ran to the white sink and filled a beaker with water. He rose slowly and she screamed at him: “Move, Tony, move! She may be dying!”

Grumbling under his breath he rose and began searching in the cupboards lining the room. Bloody woman: Why did she have to be standing there at that moment? Why didn’t she stay on watch in the surgery as she was supposed to do? Viciously he slid doors open and shut.

“No damned blankets here. Ask her where they are,” he shouted.

Miriam appeared at the door as if there had been a fresh explosion. “Quiet!” she commanded in a voice as thin and keen as a scalpel. “Find them! And hurry!’ She turned to go.

“Find them yourself,” snarled Bellini.

She refaced him with teeth bared. Before he could move she lashed him across the face with her slightly clawed hand. The nails left four parallel scratches from ear to mouth. She raised her hand the second time and he flinched.

“Don’t speak to me like that again!” Her eyes seemed twice their normal size, her lips nothing like the soft bows he had kissed so ardently; she seemed to have grown taller, too. Bellini backed off.

“No need to…,” he muttered, “I’m sorry.” He began rubbing his face with one hand and gesturing at the open cupboards with the other, “But I can’t find them. I have looked.”

“Have you looked there?” Miriam pointed to the cupboard above head height at the back of the surgery.

“Not yet.”

“Well, do so.” She disappeared back into the ward leaving him to open the cupboard and extract the special blankets he found. Angrily he took out all there were, carried them into the ward, and dumped them at the foot of the bed. Perspiration was glistening on McPrince’s forehead; her eyes were closed.

“Look, she’s hot,” said Bellini truculently.

“She’s not. She’s frozen—shivering,” hissed Miriam. Carefully she covered McPrince with blankets while Bellini wandered round the small dimly lit room wondering what to do. He couldn’t believe that they were the only people alive on the Mayburg, but neither could he account for the absence of traffic in the corridor outside.

There remained a cold fantasy in his mind that he, Miriam and McPrince were speeding towards Mars in a giant coffin without food and with air slowly bleeding away until eventually they would join the rest of the ghosts patrolling the ship. Bellini was a great believer in ghosts. In his short life he had seen them, heard them and experienced them. He was an imaginative youth, very romantic, very emotional, and a believer in everything he read. He was religious, he believed in the existence of evil spirits and ghosts; in free love and also in the beauty of one and only true love; he was a fervent Marxist, a democrat, and a Royalist; anything that could be presented to him persuasively he was.

Bellini was young, and full to the brim with the thrust of life and he went wherever it pushed him. His imagination began to give him pictures of Captain Able sitting at the ship’s control desk his dead finger pressed on the ‘drive’ button and his dead eyes staring blindly at the ever enlarging sphere of Mars on the screen. He saw, too, the passenger lounge full of decoratively sprawled young ladies all dead. His young spirit insisted he do something, and yet he was afraid of the death that waited outside the door.

He struck the wall nearest him a blow with the ball of his hand (not his fist) and then rushed back into the surgery, found some more steel rods, and began hammering again at the door.

The noise roused McPrince and she groaned at the pain her involuntary movement caused. She looked into Miriam’s face hovering above her,

“My arm,” she said, “You must set it.”

Miriam drew away in horror. “Oh, no.” she breathed, “I couldn’t. It would hurt you.”

McPrince screwed her face up to fight a scream of pain and exasperation, “Don’t be foolish, girl. I’ll tell you how to do it,” She panted a little and then carefully moved her good arm across until she touched the broken arm. Slowly, with several winces she felt her way up the limb. “It’s the humerus. That’s easy. A light local. Some splints. I’ll do it myself.”

Miriam did not move.

“Get the splints,” repeated McPrince tiredly. “You’ll find them in cupboard number three.” And when Miriam slowly turned towards the door, “And bring me the hypogun…and the box of ampoules with it.” She was so exhausted she could not have said more even if Miriam had refused to go. She had completely forgotten her plan to fake an accident to herself. The irony was lost on her.

Her thoughts wavered like mirages, fading in and out of her control. How had her arm broken? What was the hole in the ward wall? Who was this steward? Why was he here? It was too much for her bruised head to hold and she lost hold of reasoning until a voice penetrated her awareness: “Are these them?” She opened her eyes. Miriam was holding up three very bent splint rods. McPrince gaped.

“They’re bent!” she whispered.

“Yes. Tony used them to hit the door.”

“Hit.…” Once again the strength to follow a line of thought failed her.

Miriam held up the hypogun. “Is this it?”

“Yes.” Miriam slanted a box of plastic bullets. “And these?” McPrince roused.

“Let me see.” She forced her head off the pillow and examined the lines of tubes. Slowly her good hand came up and she pointed to one tube. “This one, Load the gun.” She subsided; she looked asleep.

Miriam extracted the little tube and then took up the gun. Fearfully she Examined it, her first reaction being to ask Bellini to load it, but then recollection of his sulky-boy’s face stopped her and determinedly she turned the thing round and round pressing and pulling its parts. A panel above the trigger popped open and disclosed a cut-away section of tube that obviously fitted the bullet. Carefully she slipped the bullet in and closed the panel. Now what? The splints. She took them into the surgery and showed them to Bellini.

“These are no good. You’ve bent them—”

“No good for what?”

“As splints. They should be straight—you’ll have to bend them straight again.”

“They’re steel!” he expostulated. “I can’t bend steel.”

“You bent them once—now unbend them!”

He laughed caustically. “That’s different. It’s one thing to put a random bend in rods like these, it’s another to get it out again unless you’ve got a vice and tools. Women don’t understand things like that.” He laughed again.

“I understand that she’s got a broken arm and unless we set it and splint it for her she’s going to be in agony and finish up with a useless arm. Well, if you can’t straighten those we’ll have to find something else,”

“What?” asked Bellini unhelpfully. He stood looking at her with a slight smile, almost a sneer, on his lips.

“Anything straight,” she said,

He took something from his pocket and held it up. “Like this pencil?”

Instant rage hit her. She struck the pencil from his hand with one swinger and followed it up with a swinger from the opposite direction, He staggered and sat down with a thump.

“Get up you useless weed,” she screamed at him, “Get up and do something.” She assisted him with a kick to his left thigh. “Make a splint or I’ll bend this straight over your head.” She held one of the steel rods high over him, murder in her eyes.

“Don’t!” he gasped. He scrambled away from her like a crab and then ran to the other end of the room, “You’ve gone mad!” he shouted back. “How did I know what they were? You’re bloody mad!”

She ran two steps towards him with the steel rod back behind her head ready to smash his brains.

“All right. All right!” he shouted. “I’ll find something, Put that thing down.”

Satisfied, she turned back but she was panting with the effort she had expended. In the ward she bent over McPrince. “Are you warmer?”

McPrince nodded.

“Tell me what I have to do.”

McPrince’s shapely face was haggard. She breathed rapidly and shallowly, making a great effort to rally her thoughts.

“When you have the splints ready shoot me with the gun. I will show you where. Then I will position the bones. Then you must bind the splints to the arm and then to my body. That is all.”

“Will it hurt you?”

“Not much.”

Miriam studied the tired face and softly wiped away perspiration. “Is there anything I can give you for the shock?” she murmured. “Something to make you sleep?”

“Afterwards,” answered McPrince. She lifted her head slightly. “What is he doing? Where are the splints? What is happening?”

In one determined, sinuous movement Miriam was off the side of the bed and at the ward door. Bellini had taken a sliding door from one of the cupboards and was trying to break it into strips. His teeth were bared in manic frustration at the toughness of the plastic. He threw it on the floor and stamped on it, and when he saw her looking at him he gave a gurgle close to tears, picked up the door and hurled it across the room. Bottles and beakers crashed and bounced on the floor.

“Hell, hell, hell!” he shouted in a falsetto. “Why did she have to break her bloody arm? Get your own bloody splints!” He kicked hard at a chair and then had to retrieve it and sit down as his heart was pounding so hard. The air pressure was definitely low now. They both felt dizzy with the high emotions they were suffering.

“Tony,” she said, close to tears. “Please help. Once we have her fixed up we can both try to get attention, but she needs us now.”

He shook his head violently, almost like a dog, and turned away from her, “No. No. She’s the doctor; let her cure herself. If it hadn’t been for her we’d have been in my cabin by now. To hell with her—and you too!” He began crying.

She was shocked. She saw that Bellini was scared, so scared that his reason was leaving him. She went back to McPrince who stared back up at her.

“Give me the case,” murmured McPrince nodding towards the case of ampoules on the table by the bed. Miriam tilted the case for her and laboriously McPrince extracted one of the tubes.

“After you have injected me put this in the gun. If he gets uncontrollable, shoot him with it. It will make him sleep.” Her face grew firmer as she rallied her low forces to deal with the problem on hand. “In the drawer to the left of the door are some heavy scissors. The shelves in the soap store are plastic…you can cut them. Get four.…”

Miriam ran into the surgery. Bellini sat with his head in his hands and did not stir as she went by. She found the drawer open and the instruments scattered on the floor. She took the scissors and ran back. In the soap store it was dark but there were bits of shelf everywhere. She dragged out some pieces and using both hands on the scissors cut them to equal lengths. She returned to the bed and showed them to McPrince, who nodded.

“Inject me now.” A finger came across her body and pointed to a spot on her damaged upper arm, “Here and here,” And as Miriam hesitated: “It won’t hurt me.”

Miriam picked up the hateful gun and placed it where indicated. She pulled the trigger and there was an almost imperceptible psst.

“Now here,” breathed McPrince. More confidently Miriam fired the second shot.

“I shall set the bones in line,” said McPrince. “Get the bandages ready to bind the splints on when I tell you. Put some cloth round the splints so they don’t dig in as you bind them.”

While Miriam wrapped the strips, McPrince’s good hand began to explore, exerting more and more pressure as she steeled herself. A faint dry sound sickened Miriam. “Crepitus,” hissed McPrince through clenched teeth.

“Get ready. Don’t worry about me. Just do your job.” She suddenly pushed and twisted at her arm, arching her back at the pain and turning her head away to conceal it from Miriam. “Do it,” came her husky whisper. She kept a grip on her arm.

Miriam knew only that she must be quick and gentle, no flinching, no tears, cool, an ally to this brave woman. She pushed away every thought of herself. She positioned the strips around the limb, holding them loosely in place by quick twists of narrow bandage, then starting near the shoulder began winding the wider bandage round and round.

“Tighter,” murmured McPrince. She looked into Miriam’s intent face and smiled. “All over. Thank you, Miriam. I don’t know what I could have done without you.” Miriam smiled back as she worked,

“How does your back feel?” she asked professionally.

“Fine,” said McPrince. “What did you use?”

When she had finished Miriam held up the jar of ointment. “Can I get you something for the shock now?” she asked.

McPrince nodded and gave directions. “Keep the gun with you,” she reminded Miriam. “Load it with the tube I showed you.”

Miriam looked apprehensive. “Do you really think he would attack me? He saved my life when the water escaped.”

“He might not mean it but he might come to believe you are the cause of his predicament and then he might want to hurt you. Take the gun. Keep it in your pocket.”

Miriam marched into the surgery like soldiers used to march into battle: head up, face grim, muscles taut, waiting for death. Bellini watched her silently from where he sat. She searched amongst the bottles for the one McPrince wanted, but she kept one eye on Bellini.

“I’m hungry,” he said suddenly. “I want my breakfast.” His beautiful face was belligerently set against her. “Where is the food?”

She snatched at the bottle. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “There’s no food here.” She turned to the ward door.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” he demanded, and stood up.

“It’s for the shock,” said Miriam, and took a step towards the door.

“Show me,” he said, and with a quick step of his own was in front of her holding out his hand.

“Tony, don’t be ridiculous.”

His hand darted forward and seized her wrist. He pulled her to him. She held the bottle wide from him but he took no notice of it. His face dominated her no more than six inches away. There was perspiration on his forehead.

“Bitch! We’re going to die in here. Suffocate. Don’t you understand that? We’re the only ones left on the ship. In a day we shall be dead. And you play about with her. Before we die, I must have you. I love you. Give me this before we die.” His arms had encircled her and his lips strained towards her as she strained away.

There was a look of desperation on the edge of panic in his eyes and she could feel his body trembling against her.

This wasn’t an upwelling of love for her, it was a child trying to forget a nightmare in its parent’s arms. She recovered a little from his attack.

“No. Not now, Tony,” she managed to gasp. “Perhaps when we are sure.”

He wasn’t listening to her. One leg crooked behind her and with the weight of his body he bore her backwards so that they crumpled to the floor, she underneath. Before she could get her breath his mouth pressed against hers and his hands began to tear her clothes apart. The panic that had triggered off this attack took away his last trace of humanity. He snarled into her face while his hands shredded the light blouse she was wearing. His fingers came to the top of her skirt, and it was then she remembered the hypogun in the skirt pocket.

She let his hand go where it willed while she groped in the pocket and drew out the gun. She pressed it against his back and pulled the trigger. For a second the animal lust remained on his face, then a look of bewilderment swept all else away. He raised himself slightly from her and then rolled to one side and began to snore. Shaken, Miriam scrambled to her feet and ran into the ward. McPrince was half up in bed on her good elbow trying to swing her legs from under the blankets.

“No, no,” gasped Miriam. “Get back. I’m all right.” She helped McPrince to lie flat again. “I shot him with the gun. He’s asleep.” When McPrince was settled she asked: “How long will he sleep?”

“Two or three hours. What are you going to do about him?”

Miriam sat on the bed and thought, shaking from time to time. She was not averse to love making with Bellini, had adored it in his cabin, but this Bellini was halfway to being mad and that chilled her, If she had succumbed to him that would not have appeased his fear of dying no more than one boulder stops a flood stream, After rape would come other violence, and as the end got nearer nothing less than killing would relieve his tension. He had to be locked up. She looked around the small ward and then walked to the sagging door connecting with the surgery. She stood looking down at the sprawled figure of Tony Bellini and marveled at how quickly she had recovered from his assault. She was thinking as coolly about him as if he had been an item of furniture to be moved from one side of the room to the other,

The surgery was so much larger and brighter than the ward that she knew that if there must be a separation between them she and McPrince had to be in the surgery and Bellini in the ward. Also the water supply was in the surgery and all the drugs that McPrince might need. She turned back, made sure that the bed was narrow enough to go through the doorway, then wheeled the bed through avoiding Bellini’s spread-eagled limbs. Next she dragged Bellini into the ward and spread the spare blankets over him.

She took a jug of water and his torch and placed them by his body, then dragged the section of storeroom wall into the surgery and closed the door after her. It hung by one hinge but it closed properly and she was able to turn the key in the lock. Finally, she put the section of wall across the doorway and jammed the bed against it. McPrince watched her all the time with a thoughtful expression.

“I heard him say we would be dead in a day,” she said. “What did he mean? Tell me all that has happened. I can’t make head or tail of it.”

“It must have been the Perseids that Captain Able spoke about on the intercom. I suppose Tony came to steal me from the ward but just as he blew the wall down the ship was hit and the air is escaping. There doesn’t seem to be anybody left alive on the ship.”

“Oh…,” said McPrince, and looked far away.

* * * *

Over the rest of the day the air pressure slowly bled away to 8 p.s.i. Miriam suffered dizziness and panted like a dog. Bellini woke up, made a lot of noise on the connecting door and then fell silent. McPrince administered medicines to herself and slept sporadically. Miriam thought a lot about life and stared at the sleeping face of her companion. She was soon to die, and at nineteen that is a terrible realization.

Once she went as Bellini had done and pressed her ear to the surgery door, but she detected nothing. Most of the time her thoughts went back to her childhood and her mother, then an awful pang would go through her as she remembered that soon all these lovely memories would be blotted out; she would think no more; her mother would cease to be; her home would vanish in agony.

“Oh no!” she cried to herself. “It can’t be like that! Something must be left of me; something which can look down and watch all these heart-aching things.” She could not imagine final blackness, final sleep. When you sleep something is still there experiencing the sleep, and when she tried to imagine what a final sleep would be like there was always a watcher observing the blackness, screaming at it, banishing it with a flick of the mind. She would see herself hand in hand with her mother walking round the local shops or sitting in their sunny upstairs room drinking tea together and laughing. Tears of sorrow continually leaked from her eyes, but there was not much fear of the end, only a kind of disgust that her body would probably twist about and choke for lack of air.

McPrince held a hand out to her once as she caught her weeping. “What are you thinking about?’ she asked gently. “Come here. Tell me.”

Miriam caught the one good hand and sat silent for a long while. Then she said, “You must think me a silly baby the way I called you ‘mother’, but my mother was, is, the center of everything good in life to me and I miss her terribly. I couldn’t resist calling you ‘mother’; you are so like her.”

“Why did you leave her?” asked McPrince.

Miriam shrugged and looked a little guilty. “I used to think it was to make her happy, you know, to see me married. It isn’t easy for a girl to get married these days, is it? But I realize now that that wasn’t the reason…in any case, it didn’t make her happy, she was terribly upset when I told her. No; I think it was that I knew I had to break the bond if I was to have any life of my own. I guess I knew I could never find it while I remained on Earth. I applied for this flight on the spur of the moment…like a prison-break.”

She hung her head. “It was intolerably selfish, but I can’t help it.”

McPrince gripped her hand. “When life takes hold of you, you don’t stand much chance,” she said. “Don’t blame yourself. Every girl on this ship did the same thing. Now forget it, my girl, and attend to business. Make up some kind of a bed for yourself and then see if you can find the food tablets. There was a box of them in that cupboard over in the corner.”

The second day took twice as long to pass. The air pressure sank no lower; they did not die. Bellini had an hour of shrieking and howling and pushing at the connecting door, then he relapsed into groans and finally silence. McPrince was able to get out of bed and, with Miriam’s help, dress herself in a spare uniform. They talked about the possibility that there was someone alive on the ship who had managed to seal the leaks in the hull: how else could the air pressure remaining stable be explained? They listened for long stretches at the surgery door hoping to hear footsteps outside. They talked about life on Mars. Miriam produced Franco Parzetti’s photograph.

“He looks a nice boy,” said McPrince. “Sensible. Not like.…” She nodded at the ward door. “How did you manage to get mixed up with him?” There was a lot of talk about that. The day eventually finished and they slept.

Day three began at double speed. In the small hours there was a tremendous noise and Bellini smashed his way into the surgery. His strength seemed to have doubled. He was waving the scissors Miriam had used to make splints and he obviously intended to do some cutting up himself. He had patiently used the scissors to chisel away the door jam round the lock and his eventual rush carried the door, the barricade and the bed before him.

McPrince had been in the bed and Miriam on the padded examination table in the center of the surgery. The bed was thrown over on its side and McPrince to the floor where she fainted with pain. Miriam, shocked into a confused awakening, flung herself sideways as Bellini plunged at her. She knocked over the mobile lamp and there was blackness. Bellini lunged in the darkness and buried the scissor points in padding. Miriam hit the floor and scampered off on hands and knees dragging blankets after her. Bellini stepped on a moving blanket and fell backwards, hitting his head on something that did not give way. He, too, fainted. There was a long period of respiratory noises.

Then: “Mary?”

More breathing.… “Tony?”

Miriam felt her way along the wall to the surgery door and then up the wall to the main light switch. All was revealed. Miriam did not waste time. She scrambled bandages out of a cupboard and tied Bellini’s hands and feet into an interlocked bundle. She then found the hypogun and loaded it with one of the ‘sleep’ ampoules. Then she looked at McPrince. Blood was staining the sheets wrapped round her, and when Miriam carefully unraveled her she found the bandages across McPrince’s back were soaked. Whether the bone in the arm had come unset she could not tell, but the binding and strapping still looked firm.

With the scissors she cut away the bandages from McPrince’s back and then began tearing the sheets into large swabs, gradually drying the flow of blood. McPrince groaned and roused. Quickly Miriam re-bandaged the torn area. She made an oblong of blankets beside McPrince on the floor and eased her on to it. “Don’t move. Let the bleeding stop. How is your arm?”

McPrince grimaced. “All right, I think. Thank you, Miriam. I shall be fine now.” She looked over at Bellini’s slowly moving body. “I see you’ve dealt with him. Good girl. He’ll need medication.… Or maybe the bang on the head will have brought him to his senses.” She looked surprised. “It seems to have brought me to my senses. I remember now there is a key to the door.” She looked around and then nodded. “In that drawer.”

“A key!” exclaimed Miriam. “You mean the door is only locked, not jammed? But I thought you never locked the surgery.”

“It was because I was sleeping here,” said McPrince, and she hoped it sounded convincing. Miriam found the key and put it in the lock.

“Supposing…,” she said, looking back at McPrince. Then took a grip on herself and opened the door. There were no corpses outside.

* * * *

The reunion with the crew and 500 passengers went off very well. All the women were convinced they had escaped death by miracles of bravery on the part of the crew, and the crew were well rehearsed in their stories of damage caused by the Perseids.

If there was any lingering doubt about the authenticity of the Perseids the appearance of McPrince pale and properly bandaged dispelled them. There was also the tangible evidence of Bellini’s confinement to the brig for the rest of the outward voyage. That would have been carrying a trick too far,

When the women landed on Mars all were delighted with the moderate temperature, the brightness of the distant sun, and by the positively soupy thickness of the air. Most of all they were delighted with the warmth of the waiting men. Franco Parzetti was a lulu.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

BRIAN BALL was born in 1932, in Cheshire. England. Much of his substantial body of novels—science fiction, supernatural, detective thrillers, and childrens’ fiction—was produced whilst Ball simultaneously was pursuing an academic career as a Lecturer in English at Doncaster College of Education, and serving as a Visiting Professor to the University of British Colombia, Vancouver,

Ball began by writing science fiction short stories for New Worlds and Science Fantasy, but very quickly made the transition to full-length sf novels, beginning with Simdog in 1965. His early SF novels, whilst action-packed adventure stories, were also rich in metaphysical speculation, qualities that quickly brought him international recognition. Of especial note was his trilogy about an ancient Galactic Federation. Timepiece (1968). Timepivot (1970), and Planet Probability (1973). By 1971 he had begun to diversify into supernatural novels with considerable success, and in 1974 his first detective novel. Death of a Low-Handicap Man, was published to wide acclaim. This novel is currently in print from Wildside Press, and a sequel. Death on the Driving Range (2009), is scheduled to appear from the Borgo Press, along with the best of his detective and supernatural novels. In 2004 Ball resumed writing short stories for Philip Harbottle’s Fantasy Adventures anthologies, published by Wildside Press. His Borgo Press books include: The Venomous Serpent: A Novel of Horror (2013), The Baker Street Boys: Two Baker Street Irregular Novellas (2012), The Evil of Monteine: A Novel of Horror (Ruane #2), 2012, Mark of the Beast: A Novel of Horror (Ruane #1), 2011, and Malice of the Soul (forthcoming).

ANTONIO BELLOMI, who was born in Milan, Italy, in 1945, has been prominent in all sectors of Italian genre publishing as a writer, agent, translator, and editor of books and magazine series (mostly science fiction, but including detective and western stories). His many successful science fiction series titles include, most notably, Spazio 2000, Solaris and the Italian edition of Perry Rhodan, which ran for sixty-six issues. Bellomi was the first Italian editor to extensively republish John Russell Fearn in Italy, including the first posthumous publication of such detective novels as The Man Who Was Not and Reflected Glory. Bellomi’s own SF novels and short stories have appeared in all the leading Italian magazines, including the Italian edition of Playboy. Altogether he has published more than 300 stories in many genres, including juvenile stories and comic strips. In recent years he has specialized in scientific detective stories. “The Broken Sequence,” featuring his ‘planetologist’ SF detective character Uriel Queta, was specially translated by the author for Fantasy Adventures.

Brighton-born English writer SYDNEY J. BOUNDS (1920-2006) was a leading prewar science fiction fan, but his professional writing career did not begin until after the war, when his first story “Strange Portrait,” a supernatural tale, appeared in the first (and only) issue of Outlands in 1946. He soon switched to contributing ‘spicy’ stories to the monthly periodicals produced by Utopia Press. He also wrote hard-boiled gangster novels for John Spencer under such pseudonyms as ‘Brett Diamond’ and ‘Rick Madison’, and contributed short stories to their line of SF magazines, including Futuristic Science Stories, Tales of Tomorrow, and Worlds of Fantasy.

Along with writing five SF novels during the 1950s, Bounds soon became a regular contributor to the magazines New Worlds Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Authentic Science Fiction, Nebula Science Fiction, Other Worlds Science Stories, and Fantastic Universe. Later, he was a prolific contributor to the anthology series New Writings in SF, The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, The Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories, the Armada Monster Book, and the Armada Ghost Book.

One of his best-known stories, “The Circus”, was scripted by George A. Romero for a 1986 episode of the syndicated television series, Tales from the Darkside. In 2013 Universal and Qwerty Films released a film starring Liev Schrieber, The Last Days on Mars, based on one his best short stories (“The Animators,” 1975). Bounds also pursued parallel careers as a successful children’s writer and a western novelist. In the late 1970s he wrote a number of science fiction novels for an Italian publisher, together with some new supernatural and crime stories.

The first-ever collections of the author’s SF and fantasy stories were published in two volumes by Wildside Press: The Best of Sydney J. Bounds: Strange Portrait and Other Stories and The Wayward Ship and Other Stories, both edited by Philip Harbottle. The same editor also invited Bounds to write new supernatural and SF stories that appeared regularly in each issue of Fantasy Annual and Fantasy Adventures (Wildside Press), whilst a number of his best horror stories were anthologized by Stephen Jones.

Bounds published more than forty novels, beginning with a detective thriller in 1950, A Coffin for Clara (AKA Carla’s Revenge), but soon switched to writing SF and westerns, most notably his ‘Savage’ series, begun in 2000, with the eighth and last novel, Savage Rides West appearing posthumously in 2007. He also returned to writing detective novels, including The Cleopatra Syndicate (1990 Italian, 2007 English), Enforcer (2005), The Girl Hunters (2005), Murder in Space (2005), and Boomerang (2008).

The best of Bounds’ SF and detective novels are presently being reprinted by the Borgo Press, among them: Carla’s Revenge (2013), Boomerang (2012), Time for Murder (2012), and The World Wrecker (2011).

British author ERIC BROWN was born in Yorkshire in 1950, and his first science fiction short stories were published in Interzone in the late 1980s, to immediate acclaim. He went on to win The British Science Fiction Award for his short stories “Hunting the Slarque” and “Children of Winter” in 1999 and 2001. He has published more than a score of novels, beginning with Meridian Days in 1992. In the 1980s, Brown travelled throughout Asia, which afforded him authentic Indian background material for a number of his SF novels, such as Bengal Station (2004). His latest novel is Weird Space: Satan’s Reach (2013). His short stories “The Tapestry of Time” and “Uncertain World” were written especially for Fantasy Adventures, and he has since published several collections of short stories, his latest being Salvage Infinity (2013).

FREDERICK H. CHRISTIAN, the pen name of noted British author Frederick Nolan, was born in Liverpool in 1931. His first book was The Life and Death of John Henry Tunstall (1965), which was well received. He later founded the English Western Society, which brought him to the attention of Corgi Books (Bantam Books UK), for whom he became editor of their westerns line. He started writing westerns of his own under the pen name of Frederick H. Christian. Nolan created his own western hero “Angel” for another UK publisher, with great success, the novels soon being reprinted in America.

But Nolan had even greater writing ambitions, and quit his highly paid job to become a full-time writer. He became an internationally bestselling novelist, and his book The Oshawa Project was filmed by MGM as Brass Target, starring Sophia Loren. Since then Nolan has written many successful thrillers, historical novels, biographies, and radio and TV scripts.

ANDREW DARLINGTON, born and still living in Yorkshire, is a writer, critic and journalist, who is an expert in the fields of both popular music and science fiction. His book reviews and biographical studies of writers and musicians and vocalists have appeared widely in magazines and on-line, and his own short stories are distinguished by an intense frisson of both traditional and new-wave storytelling. He has contributed several powerful stories to both Fantasy Annual and Fantasy Adventures.

JOHN RUSSELL FEARN (1908-1960) was one of the first British writers to break into the American pulp science fiction magazine market of the 1930s and ’40s, but he also wrote 180 novels and hundreds of short stories of fantasy, horror, westerns, romance, crime fiction, and suspense, under numerous pseudonyms. His most popular series features the Golden Amazon, who was operated upon by a scientist when a child; this gave her superhuman physical powers and intelligence. Borgo Press has published over sixty of his novels and collections to date, including the twenty-one-volume Golden Amazon Saga, the five-volume Black Maria classic crime novel series, and many other mysteries, science fiction, horror, and romance novels.

JOHN GLASBY (1928-2011), a British writer, was an extraordinarily prolific writer of science fiction novels and short stories, his first books appearing in the summer of 1952 from Curtis Warren Ltd. under various house pseudonyms such as ‘Rand Le Page’ and ‘Berl Cameron’, as was the fashion of the day. Late in 1952, he began an astonishing association with the London publisher, John Spencer Ltd., which was to last more than twenty years. Glasby quickly became Spencer’s main author, writing hundreds of stories and novels on commissions in several genres. The best known of his plethora of pseudonyms was ‘A. J. Merak’, under which a number of his science fiction novels were reprinted in the 1960s in the United States.

When his association with John Spencer ended, he sold a science fiction novel under his own name to an American publisher (Project Jove, 1971). Always a great fan of the work of H. P. Lovecraft, he then began writing Cthulhu Mythos stories, including Dark Armageddon, a trilogy of novels that unifies Lovecraft’s conception of the Elder Gods and Old Ones. During the early 1960s, he also wrote dozens of paperback westerns, all of which were reprinted in hardcover. In recent years new supernatural stories have appeared in magazines and original collections edited by leading horror anthologist Stephen Jones, and in Philip Harbottle’s Fantasy Adventures anthologies (published by Wildside Press).

Also revived were his 1960s ‘Johnny Merak’ private-eye novels, which are being reprinted by Borgo Press. An all-new collection of ghost stories, The Substance of a Shade, was published in the UK in 2003, followed by The Dark Destroyer, a new supernatural novel, in 2005. In 2007 was authorized to continue John Russell Fearn’s famous ‘Golden Amazon’ series, and three novels, Seetee Sun, The Sun Movers, and The Crimson Peril, have appeared to date; a fourth novel, Primordial World, has yet to be published.

Many of the best of Glasby’s SF, supernatural, and detective titles are now being published by the Borgo Press, including new collections of short stories, among them The Dark Boatman, The Lonely Shadows, The Mystery of the Crater, Rackets Incorporated, Savage City, and A Time To Kill.

English writer PHILIP E. HIGH (1914-2006) was born in Norfolk. High’s writing ambitions did not surface until after the war. He published his first SF story, “The Statics,” in Authentic Science Fiction in 1956, and saw more than forty stories appear during the next decade, all of his writing being done in his spare time whilst working full-time as a bus driver. American readers were introduced to his work in 1964 when Ace Books began to issue High’s colorful sf adventure novels, including The Prodigal Sun (1964), No Truce with Terra (1964), The Mad Metropolis (1966), These Savage Futurians (1967), and Reality Forbidden (1968). Other novels followed over the next ten years.

Following the death of his literary agent and friend John Carnell in 1972, High retired from writing. In 1997 he was invited to contribute stories to Philip Harbottle’s new magazine Fantasy Annual. High enthusiastically responded, and his steady flow of top quality mss. was in no small way responsible for Fantasy Annual extending to five issues, before metamorphosing into Fantasy Adventures. High continued contributing to the magazine right up to the time of his untimely death, which—as noted in the editor’s introduction—was a major factor in its discontinuation. “The Wishing Stone” was his very last story, published posthumously.

Another Yorkshire-born British writer, GORDON LANDSBOROUGH (1913-1983) began his career as a chemist, before switching to journalism. After active service in North Africa during the War, Landsborough returned to London. In 1949 he was appointed editor of Hamilton Co. Stafford Ltd., an undistinguished paperback publisher of pulp fiction. Landsborough made vast improvements in their list and rebranded them in 1951 as ‘Panther Books’, publishing a regular series of genre novels, most notably science fiction. He also launched the famous British SF magazine, Authentic Science Fiction. As part of his editorial duties, Landsborough wrote westerns, crime, and foreign legion thrillers, mostly under his personal pseudonym of Mike M’Cracken. His personal memoir of this period of his career can be found in the book Vultures of the Void: The Legacy by Philip Harbottle.

In 1954 Panther Books became one of the leading British publishers, switching from original genre novels to paperback reprints of bestselling hardcover novels from other publishers. Nonfiction titles predominated, especially Second World War books, and the fiction titles were by bestselling writers. In 1957 Landsborough started Four Square Books. Michael Geare, who was employed by him in 1957 as sales manager, said of him that ‘He was a gifted, clever, likeable chap, and really knew everything about book publishing. On one occasion when we were a book short on the list, he took five days off and wrote the book himself. It wasn’t half a bad paperback, either.’ Four Square Books was very successful, and were sold to New English Library in 1962. Landsborough went on to create several other successful imprints, most notably the children’s paperback company, Armada Books (later bought out by Collins), and another children’s publishing company, Dragon Books. His list included his own adaptations for children of the Tarzan and the Beau Geste series of books, and stories written for children based on the popular television series Bonanza. This was also acquired by Collins (Armada).

During this time he continued writing, producing a dozen books under his own name, the bestselling of which in 1956 was Tobruk Commando. In 1956 he also published a book about the Battle of the River Plate, with sales revenue going to the survivors’ fund, and in 1961 (under the pseudonym Alan Holmes) the book of Tony Hancock’s film The Rebel. In the 1970s he produced another five books, including the popular Glasshouse Gang series. Later in that decade he worked on freelance publishing ventures in Hong Kong and Australia. After returning to England, he turned his hand to bookselling, opening up a remainder bookselling business, Bargain Books. Until the end of his life he was an active campaigner for several charities, as well as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

In recent years several English publishers have been reissuing the best of his western and crime and foreign legion novels, and many of his dynamic detective thrillers are being published in the USA for the first time by The Borgo Press. among them Call in the Feds!, FBI Agent, FBI Showdown, and The Grab.

E. C. TUBB (1919-2010) was a British writer who penned some 140 novels and 230 short stories in his career, many of them in the science-fiction field. He’s best-known today for his Dumarest of Terra series of thirty-three novels. His Wildside Press and Borgo Press books include: The Best Science Fiction of E. C. Tubb (2004), Enemy of the State: Fantastic Mystery Stories (2011), Sands of Destiny: A Novel of the French Foreign Legion (2011), The Wager: Science Fiction Mystery Tales (2011), Tomorrow: Science Fiction Mystery Tales (2011), The Ming Vase and Other Science Fiction Stories (2011), The Wonderful Day: Science Fiction Short Stories (2012), Star Haven: A Science Fiction Tale (2012), Galactic Destiny: A Science Fiction Tale (2012), Assignment New York: A Mike Lantry Classic Crime Novel (2013), Only One Winner: Science Fiction Mystery Tales (2013), and a trilogy of historical novels (2013): Atilus the Slave, Atilus the Gladiator, and Atilus the Lanista.

English writer PETER OLDALE lives in Cornwall with his wife Adrienne, who is also a successful author, and with whom he has often collaborated. They are the authors of numerous bestselling nonfiction books on diverse subjects, including titles on plant propagation, growing fruit and vegetables, and Navigating Britain’s Coastline. His first fantasy story, “Problem Child” was published in Vision of Tomorrow in 1970, and was quickly anthologized by Richard Davis for The Year’s Best Horror Stories (1971). It has since been reprinted several times, most recently in Chilling Tales for Dark Nights; in March 2013 an Audio version of “Problem Child” was posted on YouTube.

ERIC C. WILLIAMS (1918-2010) was a British science fiction author who began his career as one of the most prominent prewar fans, appearing in early fanzines alongside such friends and contemporaries as John Carnell, Arthur C. Clarke, and William F. Temple. His first short stories appeared in Amateur Science Stories in 1937 and 1938. The war ended his writing ambitions, and he did not reemerge professionally until the mid-1960s, when he achieved success with several short stories in Carnell’s SF magazines, and most notably with “The Garden of Paris” in the Carnell-edited anthology, Weird Shadows from Beyond (1965). This was the first ‘Delacroix of U.N.O.’ story, of whom Williams would later write several more bizarre, off-trail stories. In 1968 his first SF novel The Time Injection appeared, and was followed by another nine, his last novel, Homo Telekins, appearing in 1981. He returned to writing short stories in 1999 when he was invited by Philip Harbottle to write for his magazines Fantasy Annual and Fantasy Adventures. He contributed more than a dozen stories (some under the pen name of Cyril Wellington), including further ‘Delacroix’ stories—many of which were translated into Italian.